Intercepting Love
by jonaslovers1421
Summary: Troy has a brother, Ben. Gabriella has a sister, Grace. What will happen when intercepting love occurs? And, an even bigger mystery, who is the mysterious convict with the knife and will he be back? Troyella and ococ
1. Chapter 1

**Intercepting Love**

**Troy has a brother, Ben. Gabriella has a sister, Grace. What will happen when intercepting love occurs? And, an even bigger mystery, who is the mysterious convict with the knife and will he be back?**

**Chapter 1 New Year Part 1**

**Gabriella's Point of View**

It's 11:00pm, December 31st. We're all at Troy's house for his huge New Year's Eve Party. I think the whole school is here. I just want to find Taylor, but I can't see her anywhere. On top of that, the DJ was so loud Taylor wouldn't hear me if I screamed 5 feet away from her.

"Hey, Gabriella. What's up?" Sharpay asked.

Everything had changed so much since I came to East High last year. And now we're all juniors.

"Hey Shar. Have you seen Taylor?" I asked.

"Yeah, she was in the yard out back," she answered me.

"Thanks," I said moving toward the back door.

There were about twenty five people outside. A few were talking, a few were playing basketball.

"Hey Tay!" I called. She had been talking to her boyfriend, Chad Danforth.

"Hey Gabriella," they both replied.

"Hi Chad," I added.

Chad departed and I sat on the bench next to Taylor.

"Tay, exactly a year ago I met Troy."

"Oh yeah!" Taylor exclaimed, "Do you think he'll say something to you!?!"  
"I don't know," I admitted truthfully, "There are a lot of guests here that he has to talk to."

"Gabriella, Troy's like your best friend. He'll make time to talk to you!"

"I hope so," I smiled accidentally.

"You're crushing on him so hard!" Taylor sighed.

"What!?!" I shouted, "No way!" 

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Troy's POV 

"Dude, someone's texting you!" Jason said.

"Oh, I can't hear it!" I shouted back, "The music is really loud!"  
"Coming from the guy who listens to his head phones full volume," Zeke commented.

We all laughed.

I opened my phone to see the text was from my younger brother, Ben. He's in ninth grade.

It said: _When should I come home?_

I replied: _Whenever you want. The party is still in full swing._

I glanced down at my phone. It was 11:30.

"Crap!" I said out loud, "I gotta find Gabriella.

I saw Chad coming from outside and ran over to him.

"Have you seen Gabriella?" I asked.

"Yeah, I was just talking to her and Taylor outside," he answered.

I went outside and saw the two girls sitting on a bench. Gabriella looked amazing sitting there with her dark curls and petite body. She was looking off into space and smiling. I could tell Tay was saying something because Gabriella then shouted "What! No way!"

They continued to talk and I saw Gabriella smack Taylor's arm.

"Ten more minutes!" someone shouted.

This brought me back to my thoughts. I walked over to the girls.

"Hey, ladies," I said, "How do you like the party?"

They both told me they were having a lot of fun.

"Good," I said, "Gabriella I have a surprise for you. Will you please come with me?" I reached out my hand.

"Where to?" Gabriella asked smiling.

"Well, Gabs. You see a surprise is when you don't what's coming or what's going on," I said slowly.

"Good job!" Gabriella mocked me, "Tay, he needs a round of applause! He knows what a surprise is!"

"Ha! Ha Ha!" I said, "Now come on!"

She stood up and took my hand saying "see ya" to Taylor.

I got her to the back door and she realized where we were going.

"No!" she said dropping my hand.

"Come on Gabs, you can do this!"

I grabbed her and she put up a struggle. We stood there wrestling for a few minutes before I picked her up and carried her to DJ's stage.

"That was so unfair, Bolton!" she said to me as I handed her a microphone.

The music started and we sang Start of Something New even better than last year. Everyone cheered loudly as we stepped off the stage.

"You know," I said to her, "Last year after you walked away to find your mom, I wanted to tell you that singing with you was the most fun I had had the entire vacation."

She smiled at me sweetly.

"I don't know if it was my most fun time, but it was alright."

"When did you get so sarcastic?" I demanded. We both laughed happily.

There was a minute left until New Year. Sharpay, Kelsi, and Taylor ran over, grabbed Gabriella, and ran away.

I was slightly disappointed, but it didn't take me long to find the guys.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year!"

The noise of so many people cheering filled my entire house.

**Author's Note**

**There's the first chapter for you! Not a lot has happened, but I just need to get everything introduced. This whole story will be done it point of views. Please pay attention to that so you don't get really confused! haha. Please review! It really helps me out when I get reviews because I need to know that you still want me to post my story! Thank! I promise the story will get more exciting!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 New Year Part 2**

**Ben's POV**

Troy hadn't asked me to leave for the party, and he would've been ok with it if I stayed, but I decided to go for a walk anyway. It was around 11:30 when I texted him to see if I should go home. He told me I could back even though everyone was still there.

I decided to go back. I turned and started walking home. I could see someone up ahead on the sidewalk. I kept walking and since it was dark didn't recognize her until we were five feet apart.

"Hey Grace," I said, "What are you doing out here?"

Grace Montez is one of my best friends. In my opinion she was beautiful.

"No one's at my house and I was bored," she answered.

"It was pretty brave of you to come out in the spooky night all alone," I joked.

She smiled, "What about you?"

"I'm staying away from the party at my house, but I was going back now."

"Did Troy make you leave?" Grace looked shocked.

"No, I left by myself."

"I didn't think Troy would do that, he's so nice."

"When do you talk to him?" I questioned.

"When he comes to my house to see Gabriella, and when I go to your house," she answered me.

"Right," I replied, thinking 'Of course she has talked to him! She has been to my house like a hundred times!' "Do you want to come back to the party?"

"Are you sure that's ok?" she questioned.

"Yup!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Grace POV**

We got to the Bolton's house a few minutes until twelve. We walked to the back of the room where the DJ was. Ben led me up the staires to the second floor balcony that overlooked the room so we could see everyone.

"That's my brother and your sister singing," Ben pointed out.

"Yeah," I answered, "They're really good."

"They're also really good friends," Ben commented.

"Yeah, I know," I said, "I'm glad Gabriella and I met you and Troy."

"Me too," he said.

I felt butterflies rise in my stomach involuntarily. He was glad we met! I heard Troy and Gabriella stop singing and Ben and I looked down at the room silently.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year!"

We were the only ones not screaming.

"Happy New Year," Ben said to me.

"Yeah, you too!"

The excitement was so great from both of us that we flew at each other and hugged. We stepped apart and silently resumed watching the room.

"I can see Taylor and Chad making out in the middle of the room!" Ben exclaimed.

"How can you miss them?" I asked.

But I was watching my sister. She was hugging her friends. Then she said something to them and walked away. She was looking around. Then she ran towards something. I saw her throw herself at Troy as they hugged tightly. She let go and quickly hugged Jason, Zeke, and a few other guys I didn't know. Then she whispered something to Troy, laughed, and walked away.

I glanced at Ben to see if he had been watching our siblings. He was still staring at Chad and Taylor.

'Pervert,' I thought.

"I'm gonna go see my sister," I said.

"Ok," Ben answered turning to look at me, "See ya."

"Thanks for bringing me here!" I said. Then I leaned up and kissed his cheek. I stepped away and quickly ran down the steps.

"Grace?" I heard my sister call.

"Hey, Gabriella," I said, "Ben brought me here."

"Oh," my sister said hugging me, and out of the blue said "Do you like Ben?"

"Yeah," I answered, thinking 'What the heck she's my sister she is going to find out sooner or later' "He's really nice, like Troy."

"You think Troy's nice?" Gabriella asked.

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed.

"Well," my sister went on, "I think Ben's really nice too."

I smiled at her. "You and Troy seem really close."

"He's my best friend; we're supposed to be close. Or do you hate your best friend?" Gabriella joked.

I laughed and said, "No, I was just wondering if you and Troy were dating."

"What!?!" Gabriella shouted, "Have you been talking to Taylor?"

"No," I replied, "I just wanted to know."

"Trust me, Troy and I aren't dating," Gabriella assured me.

"I think he likes you," I stated.

Gabriella smiled at me.

"I doubt it," she said, "But I don't know."

"You don't really know anything, do you?" Troy came up behind us.

"You're hilarious," my sister said sarcastically.

"Hey Grace!" Troy said to me giving me a hug.

"Hey Troy, what's up?"

"Nothing! Just hanging out with two Montez's!"

"Grace said Ben brought her here," Gabriella explained.

"I better go talk to him," Troy said.

"Yeah go," Gabriella demanded.

"You know you want me to stay!"

My sister glared and Troy walked away laughing.

They're just friends. I have nothing to worry about, I told myself.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**No POV**

Taylor, Kelsi, and Sharpay were watching Gabriella from when she walked away from them, to when she hugged Troy, to when Grace came down.

"Oh! My! Gosh! Flirt much!" Sharpay exclaimed to Taylor and Kelsi.

"They don't stop flirting!" Taylor agreed as Gabriella glared at Troy and he walked away laughing.

"Too bad Gabriella doesn't even realize she's flirting," Kelsi stated.

"She'll come around," Sharpay assured them.

"Let's go talk to her," Taylor suggested.

They walked over to Gabriella and Grace.

"Hey, girls," Sharpay said.

"Hi," the sisters answered together.

"Happy New Year, Grace," Taylor said.

"Yeah, yeah," Grace said.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Taylor demanded.

"I just did!" Grace said pretending to get an attitude.

The two girls laughed and high fived. Grace got along really well with all of her sisters friends, and they all liked her.

**Author's Note**

**I want to clear something up here! I know the first High School Musical took place when they were juniors, but for the sake of the story we're gonna say they were sophomores when that happened! haha. So, this chapter was just introducing Ben and Grace. PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks so much!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 How Quickly Everything Changes **

**Gabriella's POV **

'It's time to go back to school,' I thought walking slowly to my shower. It's the first day back after Christmas vacation.

I got ready and was done just in time. Grace was already downstairs and my mom had already left for work.

"I hate the bus," Grace complained as she finished her cereal.

"Didn't I tell you?" I asked, "The Bolton's are taking us to school. They should be here any minute."

Just as I had said, five minutes later there was a honk outside.

"Hello!" I said as Grace and I crawled into the back seat of the truck where Ben was already sitting.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

People were running around, saying hello, and looking at new bulletin boards when we got to school. Troy and I walked to homeroom together.

"Hey Troy!" people called as we walked down the hallway.

I said hi to some people, too. We walked into homeroom, said hi to Darbus, and sat down together.

"That's weird," I said, "Taylor usually comes running over as soon as we sit down."

Troy looked over at her and said, "Maybe she and Sharpay are plotting."

I laughed but understood why he said this. The two girls were sitting facing the other way and whispering. Kelsi and Chad walked in and they both avoided us. I shrugged and ignored it.

"Come audition tomorrow," Troy read the bulletin board.

"Can I still call you freaky callback boy?" I asked laughing.

"I would love to audition with you again, Montez."

"We should ask Kelsi to practice with us for the first audition this time," I suggested.

Troy nodded in agreement as the bell rang. He moved away to his own seat and Jimmy Turner sat down next to me. He smiled at me shyly. Jimmy was a really nice kid and an excellent dancer. He always talks to me during musical practices because he's in the Drama Club. When the bell rang again I walked with Taylor to our next class.

"I saw _Jimmy _looking at you," Taylor said.

"Really?" I asked, "That's weird. He's cute."

"I guess," Taylor agreed, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine!" I answered.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

During Free Period I decided to find Troy and practice our audition. He wasn't in the lunch room so I figured he'd be in the Secret Spot. I walked up the steps expecting to see Troy staring into space. However, I never could've been prepared for what I did see. I turned the corner to see Troy and Sara Waddell kissing. She was pushing him against the banister and he didn't seem to be refusing her.

"Excuse me am I interrupting?"

Troy and Sara turned to look at me.

"Gabriella!" Troy exclaimed stepping away from Sara, "It's not what you think!"

"I better go!" Sara said much too happy. She walked away smirking.

"Gabriella I promise-"

"It's fine," I cut Troy off, "Why would I be mad? There's nothing to be bad about. You have every right to be making out with Sara Waddell. I just wanted to ask you about practicing, but we can practice later. I gotta go."

I ran down the steps and the tears came. I felt betrayed, mad, and sad. I don't know why. It's not like Troy cheated on me. I stopped running when I hit a deserted hallway. I slid down the wall and sat on the ground. I closed my eyes.

"Gabriella?"

I looked up to see Jimmy standing above me. I stood up.

"Are you ok?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I pretended to be happy.

"I know this seems kind of abrupt, but I've been waiting to ask you for while. Will you be my girlfriend?"

I was still so confused because of Troy and Sara I didn't know what to do. Before I knew what was going on I was pressing my lips against his.

"Is that a yes?" he asked smiling.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and nodded.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy POV**

As the Free Period bell rang I ran to the Secret Spot hoping to find Gabriella there. I stood against the banister and sighed. Someone was coming up the steps.

"Hey Troy!" Sara Waddell exclaimed.

"Sara!?! What are you doing up here?" I shouted.

She walked towards me and pushed me against the banister suddenly. Then her lips came crashing down onto mine. I was so shocked I didn't move. We were like this for only a second when I heard Gabriella's voice.

"Excuse me am I interrupting?" she sounded hurt.

"Gabriella! It's not what you think!" I trued to explain.

Sara left quickly before I could finish explaining.

Gabriella was talking about how it was ok. She ran before I knew what was going on. I didn't know what to do.

'I have to tell Gabriella what happened,' I thought, 'Maybe I should give her time. I'll wait until sixth period when we have Science together.'

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

I walked into Science and Gabriella was already there.

"Gabriella, there's nothing going on between Sara and I. She followed me and started kissing me. I promise she came onto me."

"Troy," Gabriella said to me, "It's ok. I'm not mad. Like I said, you can kiss whoever you want."

'No, I can't,' I thought, 'I want to kiss you!'

Then I mentally kicked myself. I love Gabriella, but not like that. I don't want to go out with her!'

"Troy," Gabriella brought me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah," I said.

"Um, I'm going out with Jimmy," she said shortly.

It was like being hit by a bag of bricks. I felt more confused then I could remember ever being.

"Oh," was all I said, "Good for you."

"Thanks," Gabriella told me, "Troy, let's forget what happened today. Let's move on and remain best friends."

I smiled at her and I really was happy for a moment. At least we would still hang out. I sat down and that's when it really hit me. Gabriella has a boyfriend. That would mean less time with her and I would have to be more careful with hugging her and talking and everything. What if Chad is right and I do flirt with her. I don't mean to, but what if she realizes it or Jimmy realizes it? I now realized that Gabriella might not always be there, and that's also when I realized I Troy Bolton am in love with Gabriella.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Taylor's POV**

We were all gathering at the front of the school like usual. Gabriella was last to come over.

"Hey," she said, "I have some news."

"What now?" I asked smiling.

"I am going out with Jimmy Turner," Gabriella told us abruptly.

"What!?!" Sharpay squealed.

Kelsi, Sharpay, and I dragged Gabriella away from the guys.

"So now 'he's cute' means 'I have a crush on him'?" I asked remembering Gabriella's and my conversation this morning.

She explained to us everything that happened.

"Gabriella, you're not going out with Jimmy just because you saw Troy with Sara, are you?" I reasoned.

She said she did like Jimmy, and I figured, why would she lie?

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Later that night I called Chad to see what was up with Troy.

"Is he really upset?" I asked.

"He says he's really happy for her," Chad answered, "But I know it's tearing him apart."

"So he still won't admit he likes her?" I asked.

"No, not out loud at least," Chad replied.

"Neither will Gabriella," I said, "But I don't think she really likes Jimmy. She's never mentioned him at all."

"Troy said Gabriella told him they would still be best friends," Chad told me.

"Then maybe they'll realize it when they hang out," I suggested.

"I hope so," Chad stated.

**Author's Note**

**Well, what did you think? Please let me know!! I'm sorry if it's boring you, but I assure you there will be much more drama to come. It will get more exciting, even though the beginning is kind of slow. Please review!!!! It really does help me! Thanks!!! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 Knight in Shining Armor**

**Ben's POV**

My dad dropped us off at school and we separated. Grace went to find her other friends and I went to find mine.

"Hey Joe!" I called to one of my best friends.

"Hey Ben," He replied, "What's up?"

"Nothing," I replied turning to my two other best friends, "Have you guys been practicing?"

Joe, Tyler, Zac, and I are on the Junior Varsity basketball team. I'm not as good as Troy, not yet at least.

"Sure we have!" Zac exclaimed.

"What's up with you and Grace?" Tyler asked me.

"What do you mean?" I replied smiling.

"She was in your car! And you talk about her a lot!" Joe said.

"My brother and her sister are best friends."

"It's ok, man," Zac assured me, "We approve of Grace."

I rolled my eyes and walked away. They followed me laughing.

Then I started to think. I do talk about Grace a lot. She's really nice, and pretty. She doesn't like me though. She did give me a kiss on the cheek. I surprised myself by thinking this and tried to forget about it.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Joe, Tyler, Zac, and I walked into the cafeteria. I immediately saw Troy wasn't at his table. My friends and I got in line and just my luck, Grace was in front of me.

"Hey, Ben," she smiled at me sweetly.

"Hey," I replied shortly.

"Grace," another voice said, "We need to talk."

A kid named Steve McDaniel's was walking over to stand by us.

"Steve, please leave me alone!"  
"Meet me in the hallway," Steve marched away.

"What was that about?" I asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

Grace got her food quickly and walked away.

My friends and I sat down five minutes later and I still didn't see Grace anywhere.

"Go see if she's in the hall," Zac suggested.

"Yeah," I got up and walked out of the cafeteria.

I immediately saw Steve yelling angrily at Grace.

"Hey!" I shouted running towards them, "Get away form her, you creep!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Bolton!"

"I think you should be a little more careful with who you tick off," I said quietly in his face.

"Am I supposed to be afraid of you and your older brother?" Steve questioned, "You can't hurt me! I don't know the word pain!"

"You're about to," I replied still quiet but aggressive.

"You better watch it!" Steve walked away.

"Grace are you ok?" I turned to her.

"Thank you so much," she whimpered through tears.

"He asked me out and when I turned him down he got really mad. He hasn't left me alone since!"  
"Ssssh," I calmed her down hugging her gently just like what I had seen Troy do to girls, "You don't have to explain.

She stepped away from me and looked me in the eye. She stood on her tip toes to kiss me on the cheek, I was grateful.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Grace's POV

I walked into the hallway already trembling. Steve was waiting for me.

"Montez, I'm gonna give you one more chance," he said, "Go out with me."

"Steve," I pleaded, "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" he shouted cutting me off, "I don't take no for an answer!"  
He continued to shout and I eventually began to cry. The cafeteria door opened and my knight in shining armor came out.

Ben started yelling at Steve until he ran away.

"Grace, are you ok?" he asked me gently.

"Thank you so much," I cried weakly.

He stopped me when I tried to explain and wrapped his arms around me.

I pulled away ready to kiss his cheek. Our eye's met as I leaned toward him and a wave of excitement washed over me. I turned my head slightly and our lips met. We stood there sharing a gentle kiss. I pulled away and turned to run like always. Ben grabbed my hand.

I surprised myself and I could tell he was surprised too.

"Grace, did you do that on purpose?" Ben asked me quietly.

I didn't know what to say or do. I tried to sort out my thoughts quickly but my heart over powered my head and I nodded.

"I'm sorry," I whispered staring at him, tears still running down my face.

Ben whipped them away and leaned towards me to kiss again. I accepted his kiss and we stood for a few more seconds motionless.

"Grace," He whispered, "Will you go out with me?"

My stomach did a back flip and I laughed out loud.

My heart felt full but somehow I felt weightless.

"Yes," I answered breathlessly, "I would love to!"  
"What about your dads rule, no dating during basketball season?" I asked.

"We can't let anyone know."

"I can't even tell Gabriella?"  
"I wish I could tell Troy," Ben answered, "But we can't risk it."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

I was happy for the rest of the day and only told me best friends, Kelly and Dominique. Ben and I decided our best friends could know.

Gabriella and I rode the bus home because the Bolton's were staying after for basketball.

My mom wasn't home so I followed Gabriella to her room.

"Hey," she said, "How was your day?"

"It was great! Yours?" I replied.

"Well, I have some news," My sister said, "I got a boyfriend."

'Oh no!' I thought, 'It's gonna be Troy! What now!'

"Ooooh!" I said trying to sound excited, "Who!?!"

"His name is Jimmy Turner, he's in Drama Club."

I didn't say anything because I was so surprised.

"Is that a bad thing?" Gabriella asked.

"No! Congratulations!" I laughed out loud in relief. 'I mean I want Troy and her to be together but, it would be weird for both of us to be dating the Boltons.'

"Why don't you get our secret stash of cookies?" Gabriella suggested.

"Ok!" I jumped off her bed and pulled a package of Oreos out from under a loose floorboard in Gabriella's closet.

**Author's Note**

**Hope you liked it! There's some more about Ben and Grace for ya! I know it seem kind of quick that they got together, but oh well! Please review! You guys are the best! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 Romantic Date?**

**Gabriella's POV  
**

'I'm not really sure why I agreed to go out with Jimmy,' I thought as I got into my bed, 'What I am sure about is that I don't want anything to change between Troy and I.'

My phone rang suddenly and I knew it would be Troy, he's the only one that called this late.

"Hey," I answered casually.

"Soarin! Flyin! There's not a star in heaven that we can't reach!"

"That was last year, my friend!" I laughed.

"I know! I know!" Troy assured me, "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"I'm always ready to sing with you, Troy!"

"Jimmy won't mind?" he asked.

There was a pause.

"No, Troy."

"Ok," Troy said, "I gotta go."

"Night," I said.

"Good night."  
I rubbed my face and rolled over in my bed.

'Who am I kidding?' I asked myself, 'Everything is going to change now.'

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Taylor, Troy, and I walked to homeroom the next morning and I was about to go sit with them when I saw Jimmy smiling at me. I changed my path and went to sit by him.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi, how are you?" I asked lamely.

"I'm great! What are you dong during Free Period today?"

"I'm audition for the musical with Troy!" I answered getting excited.

"Oh yeah! How could I forget?" Jimmy said, "I'll be there!"  
I smiled at him, but I was thinking about how excited I was to audition with Troy.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Jimmy questioned.

"What?" I asked distractedly, "Oh, sorry. No."

"Why don't you come over to my house tonight?" Jimmy suggested.

"Oh!" I said taken aback, "Sure. Great."

"I'll pick you up."

"Ok," I scribbled down my address as the bell rang. I quickly grabbed my books and ran out of the room.

'I completely blew that conversation,' I thought.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

"You ready?" I asked walking onto the stage with Gabriella.

"I better be." She smiled melting my insides.

'How does she do that?'

I shook it off and handed her a microphone.

As she started to sing I got lost in the sound. I almost missed my first line. I just managed to pull myself together and we got a huge round of applause from Darbus.

"Excuse me!" Darbus shouted obnoxiously, "There will be no need for lead roll callbacks! There happens to be four leads in this year's production of Guys and Dolls! Dismissed!"

"What do you say we celebrate tonight?" I asked.

"Of course!" Gabriella said, but then she frowned.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm going to Jimmy's tonight," she said, "How about tomorrow?"

"Basketball."

"Oh," Gabriella said.

"Don't worry about it. I gotta go," I walked off managing a quick smile.

'I hate Jimmy!' I thought furiously, 'But if Gabriella's happy with him, I'm happy that they're together. Then I got lost in fantasies about Gabriella.

"Hey, dude, are you ok?" Chad asked bringing me out of my thoughts.

"No dude! I'm not! I love her!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Ben's POV**

"Where's Grace?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah let's go find Grace!" Zac added.

"Shut up," I demanded calmly.

But sure enough as Grace, Kelly, and Dominique turned down our hallway butterfly's rose in my stomach.

"Hey boys," Grace said smiling at me.

"Hey," we all mumbled.

"Hey Kelly!" Zac said loudly.

"Well, we just came to say hi," Grace said, "We better get to homeroom."

"See ya," I looked around the hallway, it was deserted except our friends talking, so I leaned down and gave Grace a quick kiss. Then parted our ways to homeroom.

"What was that about, Zac?" I asked.

"What?" he said stupidly.

"Hey Kelly!" Joe mocked him.

"What!" Zac exclaimed, "I think I have a chance with her!"

"Let's go," I demanded my mind still on Grace.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Grace's POV**

"I think Zac has a thing for you," Dominique told Kelly.

I nodded in agreement as we sat down in homeroom.

"Zac?" Kelly asked, "I don't think so. But, if Tyler asked me I probably wouldn't reject."  
"You like Tyler!?!" Dom exclaimed.

Kelly looked at her feet.

"It's ok Kel," I assured her, "I think Tyler's a cool kid."

Ben walked into homeroom and winked at me.

'He's so cute,' I thought.

The bell rang and I went to talk to him.

"I forgot to tell you" I said, "Gabriella's going out with some kid named Jimmy!"

"Oh yeah," Ben said, "Troy told me."

"Ben are you doing anything tonight?" I asked.

"No why?"

"Well, I thought maybe we could meet at the park."

"Really! That'd be great!" Ben agreed, "How about around seven!?!"

"Sure!" I replied with a smile on my face.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV  
**

There was a knock at my door and I knew it would be Jimmy.

"Bye mom!" I called.

"Bye sweetie! Have fun!"

"Hey," I said to Jimmy closing my front door.

He took me to a park a few minutes from my house.

"I thought we were going to your house," I said not really caring where we went.

"Is this ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's fine."

We walked around a path through the park talking about whatever came to mind.

"Gabriella, I have a question for you."

"Ok," I said sitting down on a bench.

"Did you agree to go out with me to make Troy jealous?"

I was taken aback; I didn't know what to say.

"No," I answered, "Jimmy I would never use anyone like that. I'm sorry you feel that way. I have to go."

"Gabriella."

I turned to Jimmy and he stepped toward me. We kissed lightly. He pulled away and we smiled at each other.

"Bye," I whispered.

I started walking towards the street. Movement in a bush caught my eye. I figured it was just a small animal and kept walking.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Ben's POV**

Usually, I would be nervous to go on a first date with someone. But with Grace it's different. I walked into the park and looked around. She was coming towards me.

"Hey," I said, "You look great."

"Thanks," she said modestly.

I heard voices and turned to see Gabriella and Jimmy were standing about thirty yards away. Gabriella suddenly starting coming towards us. I grabbed Grace's hand and pulled her into a nearby bush. We held our breath when Gabriella stopped two feet away from us. She looked around for a few seconds before hurrying away.

"That was too close," Grace let out her breath.

"I know," I answered.

We looked at each other then starting laughing for no reason. I stood up and grabbed her hand.

"How is everything going with Gabriella and Jimmy?" I asked.

"Actually, I think Gabriella is keeping who she really likes from me. But she would never go out with Jimmy to use him."

"I hope she's happy, I really like your sister," I said.

"Oh I see!" Grace exclaimed pretending to get mad, "You're just using me to get closer to my sister!"

We both laughed again and I squeezed her hand.

"Just kidding!" Grace said, "I really like Troy too."

"Would you like to sit down, Miss Montez?" I asked gesturing to a bench under a tree.

"I would love to, Sir Bolton," She replied sweetly.

We sat down next to each other watching the sunset across the lake.

"This is like a movie," Grace whispered.

I leaned down and kissed her head. At the same moment her cell phone rang.

"Hello," she answered leaning on my shoulder.

There was a pause.

"Oh my gosh! What did you say! Really? That is so messed up! Ok, bye."

Grace said to the other person.

"That was Kel," she explained, "Zac asked her out."

"Nuh uh!" I exclaimed, "What happened?"

"Kelly said no because she likes Tyler. Zac said he would see what Tyler thinks of Kelly and Kel let slip that Dom likes Zac!"

"That is so weird!" I said, "Zac told me yesterday he kinda liked Dom."

"They'll work it out," Grace said.

She laid her head back down on my shoulder and fell asleep.

I stroked her hair as darkness set around us. The gentle sound of hooting owls rang through the silence of the night.

I thought about Grace and how much she meant to me.

"I love you," I whispered.

Even though I had said it before this time I truly meant it.

"I love you too, Ben," Grace whispered back.

"Grace...I thought you were sleeping!"

"I tricked you!" she said giggling.

I brushed my hand across her face gently.

"They're you are Montez!" A low, rough voice said making us both jump.

We whipped around. A man dressed in all black was five feet behind the bench. He had a scraggly, roughly shaven beard and he was thin, as if he couldn't get too food. His eye's were dark green and looked wild and hungry.

"I've been looking for you!"

"Who are you!?!" I shouted stepping in front of Grace.

The man ignored me and pulled a knife out of his pocket. A light rain started to fall.

"If I were you, I'd leave," the man said piercing me with his crazy eyes.

"Leave me, Ben! Go home! Leave me!" Grace whispered urgently in my ear. Right as the rain started to pour I grabbed Grace's hand and ran. We dashed past the man and Grace let out a scream of pain.

"Hey!" the man shouted, "Get back here!"

We were running down the rain spattered streets. I could feel Grace shaking even though I was only holding her hand. The fear inside of me was so real I couldn't register it. I would have been freezing from the rain, but my whole body had gonna numb minutes before. I heard the man slip on the wet road and took advantage of it. I pulled Grace into an alley. Everything seemed to be spinning as I heard the man swearing just outside the alley. At last minute I tossed Grace into the dumpster. As the lid slammed shut we were plunged into darkness. Grace's body was shaking against mine. I wrapped my arms around her and held her as close as I could. I noticed blood on my arm and knew Grace must be bleeding.

"Grace, hold your cut out."

I managed to find it and wrap it tightly in a piece of my shirt.

Police whistles could be heard in the distance.

"I'll be back for you, Montez, I'll be back."

We waited holding each other for who knows how long.

"Grace...are you ok?"

"That was so scary," she cried, "He's gonna be back."

"Grace, you look at me," I demanded.

Even though it was dark I could tell she had obeyed.

I cupped her face in my hands.

"No matter what, I won't let him hurt you again. I promise."

I pulled Grace out of the dumpster.

"So much for a romantic first date," I joked.

Grace laughed.

"There's that smile!" I exclaimed.

"Ben, thank you. I felt safe once I was in your arms."

I kissed her head and began walking her home.

**Author's Note**

**How did you like this chapter? A little more action! **_**Please review!!! **_**I'll try to update again soon!! Thanks to the few people who did review! They were great! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 Are You Ok**

**Troy's POV**

I stared at the ceiling. I had been in my own world since yesterday when I had admitted to Chad how I feel about Gabriella. I didn't mean to say it, it just came out.

"Troy! You're gonna be late!" my mom called.

I glanced at the clock and jumped out of bed. I pulled on a pair of jeans and an old Wildcat tee shirt as I ran down the steps.

My mom threw me an apple as I ran out the door. Ben and my dad were already in the car.

"Why are you so late?" my dad questioned.

"I was thinking," I answered.

"About what?" Ben butted in.

I didn't reply because I had already fallen back into my thoughts.

'How could I have been so stupid? Why did I think Gabriella would always be in my reach?'

"Troy!" Ben shouted.

"What?" I answered instinctively.

"What's wrong with you man?"

"Nothing," I lied as we walked away from my dad at school.

"Dude, who is on your mind?" Ben demanded.

'How can I keep this from Ben? We tell each other everything? But, I can't let him know because. I really don't know why...'

"Ok, if you decide you want to tell me I'm here for you man," my younger brother said before jogging off to his friends.

I instinctively started walking towards Gabriella's locker. I was half way there before I realized that was Jimmy's job now. I turned quickly and suddenly bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, "Taylor?"

"Hey Troy," she said, "What's up?"  
"Nothing just, going to homeroom."

"You were going to her locker weren't you?" Taylor asked.

"How'd you know?" I replied.

"Well, I know you guys haven't hung out in awhile. And, I know she misses you," Taylor said smartly.

We started walking to homeroom together.

"I assume Chad told you," I said.

"He almost told me something about you, but he didn't."

"Tay, I can't hide it anymore, I love her."

Taylor smiled at me sympathetically.

"Just have patience," she said.

"Thanks," I said before Taylor remembered she had to finish something in the lab and ran off.

I was outside my homeroom door when I saw Ben and Grace coming towards me.

"Hey," I said, "Where's the gang of boys that usually follow you around, Ben?"

"I could ask you the same thing," my brother replied.

We laughed.

"Actually, they're all with girlfriends," Ben answered, "Tyler and Kelly just got together."

"And so did Dom and Zac," Grace offered.

"So it's just Joe and you two without a date," I said smiling.

"Oh crap! I'm supposed to be helping Joe carry his Science project?" Ben shouted randomly and ran off.

As Ben ran away I looked at Grace. She looked pal and there were dark bags under her eyes.

"Are you ok?" I asked her.

"What? Me. Yeah, yeah. I better go."

I watched her yawn hugely and walk away.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

'I haven't seen Troy in awhile. Maybe we'll hang out tonight. Crap! I already told Jimmy I'd go to his house tonight. Why would Jimmy think I was using him? Maybe he's jealous because Troy's so cute. Actually, Troy's down right hot!'

Something hard hitting the back of my head brought me out of my thoughts.

"No one knows the answer?" Mr. J was asking.

"Can you repeat the question?" someone asked from behind me.

I turned around when something else hit my head expecting to see Troy snickering at me. Disappointment washed over me when I saw Troy was staring into space. I looked around and saw Taylor trying to get my attention.

"Are you ok?" she mouthed,

I nodded unconvincingly.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Gabriella!"

I heard Sharpay shouting.

"Yeah," I said turning around.

"Ms. Darbus went home sick, musical practice is canceled."

It was Free Period and I was on my way to the auditorium.

"Oh," I said.

"Do you want to go to the library with me?" Sharpay suggested.

"No, I better go to Decathalon," I said.

"Ok, see ya."

I started walking towards the labs. Right as I turned a corner I saw Taylor walking towards me.

"Where are you going?" I asked her.

"Oh, hey," she said, "I was going to watch basketball practice. Troy's running it so we can get in. Want to come?"

"Sure," I said turning around, "We better hope Mr. Bolton doesn't come in and catch us in his _closed practice_!"

We laughed.

When we entered the gym Taylor led us halfway up the bleachers. We had slipped in unnoticed. Troy was dribbling down the court. He shot, but missed.

"Ok!" he shouted, "Line up for free throws!"

The guys obeyed him.

Troy went first. The ball soared right at the net, but bounced off the rim. His next shot hit the backboard. After three misses Troy caught the ball and flung it at the opposite wall.

"It's ok, man," I heard the guys saying, "Everyone has an off day."

Taylor looked at me.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" she asked.

"What? Doing what?"

However at that moment Chad and Jason had come running up the bleachers to say hi.

"Where's Troy?" I asked trying to sound casual.

"He decided to go for a run right before we saw you guys up here," Chad answered.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Grace's POV  
**

"Bye Gabriella!" I called as she walked past my door, going downstairs.

"Bye Grace."

She stopped.

"Are you ok?" she questioned me.

"Yeah," I lied shortly, "I'm fine."

She stared at me for a few seconds before finally leaving. I heard the door slam and knew Jimmy had arrived. I was alone in the house.

'I would've died without Ben,' I thought for the thousandth time, 'He saved me.'

The doorbell rang suddenly. I jumped a foot off my bed and immediately broke into a cold sweat. I walked to the front door trembling.

"Who...Who is it!?" I shouted my voice cracking.

"It's Troy!"

I sighed and laughed with relief flinging open the door.

"Are you ok?" he asked immediately, "Why are you shaking? Are you sweating?"

"Gees Troy calm down," I smiled trying to hide how miserable I felt.

"Ok," he smiled back, "Is Gabriella home?"

"No, she just left with Jimmy."

Troy's smile vanished instantly.

I stifled a yawn and Troy eyed me closely.

"Grace, you can tell me what's wrong."

'_Troy will listen and help you with anything. That's one reason he's so great,'_ my sister's voice rose in my mind.

I led Troy into the living room and before I knew it I was spilling the whole story to Troy. I left out only the parts about me and Ben being on a date.

"And, I didn't sleep last night and I hate being alone, and I'm so scared!"

Tears poured down my face. I tried to wipe them away but there were too many.

"Grace look at me."

Troy put his hands on my shoulders.

"First of all, nothing will hurt you in your sleep. There's no way he could get in your house without someone noticing it! I understand why you don't want to be alone, you don't have to be. I'm sure Gabriella wouldn't leave you if she knew how much it bothers you. Also, it sounds to me like this guy is afraid of the police, so I'm sure they're searching for him. Besides, if he does find you, you wouldn't want to spend you're last days looking like that!"

My mouth dropped open in shock as he began to smile.

"I was just kidding!"  
I smiled too.

"Are you home alone right now?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, mom's on a business trip."

"Do you want me to stay until Gabriella gets back?" Troy offered.

I nodded thankfully. Ben came over too and the three of us had a lot of fun watching movies and hanging out.

'How can one family be so great?' I wondered smiling.

**Author's Note**

**I hope you are liking the story! Please let me know by reviewing! Sorry if the whole Tyler, Kelly, Dominique, Zac thing confused anyone! It confused me when I was first writing it! Haha I'll get more chapters up as soon as I can. I'll try not to slow down with my updates, but if I do it's because of school starting. Once again, I promise the story gets more exciting and more plot! Please keep reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 The Janitor's Closet**

**Ben's POV  
**

"Ben! I'm going to rent a movie! You wanna come?" my brother called from downstairs.

I answered by running down to him.

We had walked half way to the movie store, talking the whole time, when I heard my name.

"Ben!"

I looked up and saw Gabriella and Grace walking towards us.

"Hey!" I called.

"Hi," Grace answered, "What are you doing?"

"Troy and I are going to rent a movie. You could come and we could all watch it together."

"That would be great!" Grace exclaimed.

I couldn't help but to stare at her.

"What do you think Gabriella?" Troy asked.

"Sorry," she said, "I've got a lot of homework and I have to help Jimmy with his."

"Ok," I said, "We'll bring Grace home when it's over."

I heard Troy swear under his breath.

We rented Aristocats, because Grace was furious that we didn't own it. She loves it.

As soon as we got home Troy went upstairs claiming he was tired.

Grace and I sat on the couch together. We had a great time laughing and munching on popcorn. Grace sang along. When the movie was over my dad and I took Grace home.

As I walked to my room I stopped in front of Troy's and peered in. He was lying on his fully made bed completely dressed. He was even still wearing his tennis shoes. It looked to me as if he had been staring blankly at the ceiling for three hours.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV  
**

"Ok, bye," Gabriella walked off and I swore quietly.

When we finally got home I wasn't in the mood to watch a movie, or do anything, so I went upstairs and lay on my bed. Gabriella's face instantly swam into view.

'Why is she being so weird around me? I just want to spend some time with her. It seems like she doesn't want to hang out with me at all. She used to help_ me_ with _my_ homework! Who is Jimmy to take her from me!?!'

_Her boyfriend!_ Said a voice in my head.

So! You're allowed to have feelings for her, another argued back.

_But you're not allowed to hate Jimmy because he had enough courage to ask her out!_

But I can hate him for always hanging out with Gabriella!

_No you can't!_

Why not!

_Because they're supposed to hang out!! They're dating!_

I sighed deeply ending the battle that was raging in my head. I just want to talk to her for more than two minutes! Ok, I'll ask her tomorrow if she wants to hang out next week. Jimmy can't have plans for her already!

I rolled over trying to stop thinking about her and how much I hate Jimmy. This didn't stop me from having dreams about Jimmy messing up on stage and everyone laughing at him.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV  
**

"Hey," someone said behind me as I waked into homeroom.

"Hi Jimmy," I said turning around.

"What are you doing tonight?"

"I have to stay home with Grace," I answered, "I don't know why, but she doesn't like being home alone."  
"Ok, baby," Jimmy replied, "I'll call you instead."

"Gabriella!" someone else called as I sat down.

I looked up quickly and saw Troy smiling at me.

"Troy?" I questioned as he walked towards me.

I took a few steps away from Jimmy in turn.

"Gabs," Troy said quietly.

I was already smiling; Troy was the only one that called me that.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"We haven't hung out or even talked in awhile. We only see each other during play practice. Are you doing anything next Wednesday?"  
"No, but I'm just hanging out with Grace tonight if you want to come over."

"Really? Great! See ya!"

Troy jogged back over to his friends and started messing around with Chad. I stared after as excitement boiled inside of me. Jimmy was speaking behind me.

"Aren't you?" he finished.

"What?" I asked suddenly.

"I asked if you were gonna be at musical today, during Free Period," Jimmy repeated.

"Oh," I replied, "Actually I have to go to Decathlon today."

The bell rang and we all left.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Gabriella will you get a rag!?!" Taylor shouted.

She was dripping in some form of liquid.

"What did you spill?" I asked holding back a laugh.

"That green stuff you made!" Taylor sounded disgusted.

"Don't worry, Tay! That stuff won't hurt you!" I called walking out the door. I approached the Janitors closet still smiling. I swung open the door and immediately my expression changed.

Red hot anger seared inside of me. I wanted to pounce and destroy the scene in front of me.

"Jimmy?"

Jimmy and Sara stopped kissing to look at me.

"Hey, Gabriella," Jimmy said, "This is Sara, we're going out."

My anger was suddenly overcome by sadness. I felt betrayed, tricked, and used.

"We thought if you and Troy weren't together we could get the lead in the musical," Jimmy explained further.

My first impulse was too run, but I wouldn't be that weak. Not this time.

"Good for you," I said lamely.

They both smiled at me innocently.

That pushed me over the edge.

"Jimmy Turner! I don't ever want to see your face again! Why in the world would you even go out with me!?! I will never do your homework again! I can't decide why I ever went out with you! I never really liked you, or had fun when we were together! You're pathetic!"  
He grabbed my arm and said, "Can we still hang out tomorrow baby?"  
"Don't touch me! And don't you dare call me that! We are way over!"

With one motion I slapped both Jimmy and Sara. I had managed not to cry and I stalked off instead of running. I got down one hallway before the tears came. I started running wherever my legs took me. I ended up in front of the gym. I don't know for sure what I was thinking, but I ran in to where Troy was leading practice and threw myself at him. I wasn't crying as hard as I was just because I wasn't going out with Jimmy anymore. That didn't really bother me. I had now found Sara kissing the last two guys I would have imagined her kissing. And I couldn't go another minute without hanging out with Troy.

I was bawling onto his shoulder but he didn't ask questions.

"Troy, I'm sorry," I said staring into his eyes, "I...I miss you!"

I whispered this so only he could hear. He wrapped his strong arms around me.

"Continue with practice," he demanded the team.

He walked me to the bleachers and we sat down. I wiped the glistening tears off my face. I took a deep breath and explained everything to Troy.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV  
**  
Gabriella had come running into practice bawling. We were now sitting on the bleachers and she was explaining what happened. Tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Gabriella, I'm really sorry," I said, "Maybe its best that you're not with Jimmy. I know you would rather have found out a different way, but if he's cheating on _you _with_ Sara,_ you deserve better. But, I can always beat him up for you. I bet I'm stronger," I finished flexing my muscles and smiling.

Gabriella laughed and said, "It'd be alright with me if you beat him up."

We both laughed and I hugged her again. I felt a pang of guilt about how happy I was to hear they had broken up.

I started leaning towards her without meaning too. We were two inches apart when everything came flooding back. Where we were, who was watching, the fact that Gabriella just needed a friend right now.

"Look, Gabs, I'm really sorry to hear that," I said pulling away.

"Thanks, Troy," she smiled at me.

"Do you still want to hang out tonight?" I asked.

"We haven't hung out in so long!" Gabs exclaimed.

"I know!" I agreed, "Another reason to beat up Jimmy!"

I meant to say it more to myself, but Gabs agreed laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 Best Friends**

**Grace's POV**

"Hey Grace!" my sister said stepping off the bus behind me. I jumped and whipped around.

"Don't do that!" I shouted for the second time that day. Earlier, Ben had come up behind me, covered my eyes, and said "Hey Montez!" I had almost knocked him over to get away. He, of course, knew exactly why I had freaked; Gabriella just stared at me blankly.

"Sorry," I mumbled lamely, "You scared me."

"Grace, what's up with you lately? You've been acting really weird. I've seen you thrashing in your sleep every night," Gabriella said.

The cut on my arm tingled as the mans face popped into my head. I blinked to destroy the image, but knew the absence of the face was temporary.

"I'm sorry," I repeated, "I've been having nightmares."

My sister stared at me a little longer then decided I was telling the truth and led the way into the house. The smiled on her face instantly reappeared.

"What are you so happy about?" I questioned curiously.

"Jimmy and I broke up today!"

"Oh yeah, everyone would be excited about that," I replied sarcastically.

"I'm happy because Troy and I are hanging out tonight for the first time in forever!" Gabi called running up the stairs.

"Is he coming here?" I asked.

"No I'm going to his house," Gabriella replied.

"Mom's not home yet," I said looking at my feet.

"Oh yeah," Gabriella said, "I'll stay home

"Gabi, no. You've been waiting to hang out with Troy for a really long time. I'm not gonna ruin that."

Then an idea popped into my head.

"Maybe, I could go to Kelly's."

I called her and she said she and Tyler were going to Dom's.

"Gabi!" I called into her room, "I'm gonna go to Dom's house!"

"Ok!" she replied, "I'll take you on my way!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV  
**

"Hey Troy!" I said as he answered the door.

"Hey, Gabs."  
We hugged and I stepped into the house. I said hi to Mr. and Mrs. Bolton as Troy and I walked out his back door to the court.

"Where's Ben?" I questioned watching Troy start to dribble.

"He went to Dominique's house."

Troy then began dribbling around between his legs and spun the ball on his finger before shooting.

"Show off," I said quietly but loud enough for Troy to hear.

"You haven't seen my moves in awhile! I thought you might've forgotten how good I am!" Troy exclaimed.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," I said standing up and picking up a nearby ball. My eyes stayed on Troy the whole time. He was wearing a Wildcat sweatshirt and black sweatpants. He smiled at me and we stared into each others eyes. I nearly dropped the ball.

"Watch this!" I said.

I held the ball tightly and ran at him. I knocked him out of the way, got three feet from the net, and shot. He was laughing first, at how I barely moved him, and second at how I had missed the shot.

"We are going to have a long lesson on traveling some day!" Troy joked.

I smiled and grabbed the ball he was holding. I shot and finally made it.

"OOOOOH!" I called throwing my arms in the air. I started running around in victory.

Troy started chasing me and caught me around the waist with ease.

He lifted me off the ground and threw me over his back.

"Hey!" I shouted, "Put me down!"

In my heart I wanted him to hold on forever. Troy, unfortunately, obeyed.

We went back into the house as dusk set.

"I've missed you, Gabriella," Troy said as he handed me my keys an hour later.

"I've missed you too. More than you know, Troy," I smiled at him.

'I can't believe how cute Troy always looks! How does he do that?' I thought.

"Let's hang out more often," Troy suggested.

My heart skipped a beat.

"If we must," I joked.

Troy laughed and hugged me.

"I'm so glad to have my best friend back!" he said.

"Bye best friend," I kissed Troy's cheek and left to get Grace.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Ben's POV**

"Troy can you take me to Dominique's please?" I asked my brother.

"Sure," Troy replied, "Anything for you baby brother!"  
"What's up with you?" I asked slipping into a coat.

"I'm just in a good mood," Troy replied opening the front door, "its not illegal you know."

I got out of him that he was hanging out with Gabriella while we were in the car. He dropped me off and departed quickly. Grace arrived a few minutes later.

"Hey Grace," we all said as she walked in.

"Hi!"

"What took you so long?" Dominique questioned scooting over to let Grace sit down.

"Gabriella wasn't ready when I called you. She was on her way to Ben's house," Grace replied.

After awhile she came over and sat by me.

"Hey, Ben," she said, "Did you hear Jimmy broke up with my sister today?"

"No, I didn't!" I replied shocked, "Tell her I'm sorry."

"She didn't seem that upset, actually."

I watched Grace as she stared off as if thinking really hard. I smiled in spite of myself. A little while later Dominique's mom came in announcing Gabriella was here to take Grace and I home.

Five minutes later they were dropping me off in front of my house.

"Bye!" they both called.

"Bye!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 The Moment We've Been Waiting For**

**Troy's POV**

"Hey there Brainy!" I said sneaking up behind Gabriella and using the nickname she hated. It was Friday and school hadn't started yet.

"Oh shut up, loser!" Gabriella called back slapping my arm.

"Great comeback!" I said sarcastically clapping.

She glared at me and my stomach did back flips.

"Watch out, Bolton! I control your math grade!"

"How do you figure that, Montez?" I questioned.

"Let's see!" she said mock thinking, "Who is it that does your math homework, studies with you, and keeps you focused in class? Oh yeah! ME!"

I laughed as she turned back to out friends that she was talking to before I interrupted.

"Let's go guys," she mumbled to Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi.

The three of them started to walk away. They got around fifteen feet away when Gabriella looked back and smirked at me. I smiled and went off to class.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Dude are you coming?" Chad asked me as I turned away from the gym.

"No, I got musical."

It was Free Period and for the first time in awhile I was excited for it.

"On stage Mr. Bolton!" Ms. Darbus shouted as I entered the auditorium.

I obeyed without a word. As I stepped on stage I noticed Gabriella was already there. She smiled at me and my mind went blank. She is so beautiful, was all I could think.

"Hey, Bolton!" Gabriella said as I walked over to her, "We're practicing 'If I Were a Bell' today."  
"Great!" I said, "I get to see a drunken Gabriella!"

"Fake drunk!" she corrected.

"Skye! Sarah! Are you ready?" Ms. Darbus insists on using our character names during practice.

"All set, Ms. Darbus!" Gabriella called sweetly.

The music started to play and Gabriella began to sing.

"If I were a duck I'd quack!" she sang imitating a duck

I couldn't help but to smile as I caught her.

"That was perfect!" Ms. Darbus clapped.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

"Great practice Troy," I said as we left the auditorium.

"And you," he replied.

"I'll see you later."

"Bye," Troy said as we went different ways down the hallway.

"Gabs!" he called.

I turned around.

'I love it when he calls me that!'

"Yeah!" I called back.

"During lunch, meet me you know where!"

I flashed him a thumbs up and kept walking.

I glanced at the other people in the hallway in the hallway. They all wished they had a 'you know where' with Troy Bolton!

I couldn't help but to think.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Tro-oy!" I called walking up the steps to the Secret Spot.

"Ga-abs!" He replied as I skipped up the last few steps.

"So, why are we meeting here?" I asked curiously.

"I just wanted to. We haven't been up here together in a long time."

"I know," I answered staring at the beautiful view.

All the flowers were in bloom and smelled delicious. I could see mountains in the distance, and the buzz of voices from the school below met my ears. I was used to all this, but there was another smell that made the spot even more perfect. The sweet smell of Troy's cologne filled my nostrils as he leaned on the banister next to me.

"Gabriella," he said.

I turned to face him.

"Hmm?" I mumbled staring into his eyes.

"I want to ask you something."  
I could see beads of sweat forming on his forehead and he was squeezing his hands together so hard his knuckles were white.

"What?" I asked curious as to why he was nervous. Troy and I were never nervous to say anything to each other.

"Well, Gabs, I was really stupid not to see it before. And I knew I messed up big-time when you told me you were going out with Jimmy. But, now I know that no matter what your answer is, what I am about to do is the right choice. Gab's will you go out with me?"

My breath caught in my throat. I looked at Troy who looked extremely nervous and scared. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming, and then decided to put Troy out of his misery.

"Troy! I was just as stupid as you! Yes, I would love to go out with you!"

I let him embrace me tightly and who knows how long we stood like that. When we did finally pull apart we stared into each others eyes. We started leaning towards each other

and the moment I've been waiting for came. As our lips met, chills ran down my spine. I swear sparks flew. The kiss was soft and easy, but it was perfect. Because finally, Troy Bolton was my boyfriend.

**Author's Note**

**I haven't put up a note for the last few chapters, because I typed them all together. But, here's my question. Is anyone still reading this story? And, I'm being serious, not trying to be mean. I've only gotten 2 reviews the whole story and I just want to know if it's worth it!! So, if you are still reading this, let me know! The next time I update the next big turn of the story will have happened!!!! I'm excited! haha**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 Happy and Sad**

**Grace's POV**

"_Montez!"_

_Everything went dark._

"_It's over Montez!"_

_A silver knife shined in my eyes._

"Aaaaah!" I screamed looking around.

Everything's ok. I'm home in my bed. Sweat was running down my face and I could taste the salt in my mouth. My sheets were sticking to me and I was shaking slightly.

"Honey!" my mom ran into my room turning on the lights, "Honey what's wrong!?!"  
She had come home from the business trip just as Mr. and Mrs. Bolton had left on a cruise.

"Nothing mom," I replied, "Bad dream."

"You've been having a lot of those she sat on my bed looking concerned.

"No I haven't," I lied lamely, thinking of the last few weeks. It was true, every night I relived the horrific experience of the man in the dark.

"Is Gabriella home yet?" I asked. She had been out with friends all evening.

"She got home a half an hour ago," my mom told me.

"Where was she?" I tried to push the conversation away from me.  
"Didn't she tell you?" my mom questioned, "She's dating Troy."

Even though there was still sweat glistening on my face, my mouth went dry and the world spun ten times faster as my moms words echoed in my head.

"She's dating Troy!"  
"Oh," I mumbled, "I didn't know. Since when?"

"Just today," my mom was smiling now, "I'm happy for her. Troy's a great kid. Are you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah," I answered barely listening, "Good night mom."  
Troy and my sister are dating.

I'm dating Troy's brother.

What am I going to do?

It took me almost two hours to fall asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about the man and the new problem.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

I awoke the next morning at 11:00 and couldn't think of why I had slept that late. Then I remembered my nearly sleepless night and my heart sank. I crawled out of bed and downstairs.

G'morning," I mumbled sitting at the table.

"Gooood morning!" Gabriella smiled brightly, and I knew too well why.

"Where you going?" I asked yawning and looking at my sister. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun and she was wearing a white tank top, blue shorts, and matching flip flops.

"I'm hanging out with Troy, Chad, and Taylor. We're meeting at the courts," my sister answered.

"Have fun!" my mom called from inside the fridge.

"Bye!" my sister cried cheerfully, I rolled my eyes.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

As I walked through the halls of East High on Monday morning I got more hand shakes and waves the usual. Gabs and I had been dating one weekend so naturally the whole school knew.

"Finally!" Sharpay ran up to me," Geez Troy what took you so long!?!"

I smiled at her shrugging, but eyes were searching for one person.

"What are you doing?" asked Chad as the guys gathered around me.

"Looking for someone," I replied.

"Who?" a voice asked.

I turned to see Taylor, Kelsi, and Gabriella walking towards me.

My heart swelled so fast it hurt.

"My girlfriend," I answered smiling at her.

"Oh, if I see her, I'll let her know," Gabriella turned to walk away.

"Don't trouble yourself," I whispered, "I think I found her."

Gabriella smiled at me innocently as I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her head.

"Sorry guys," Taylor interrupted, "but we better get to homeroom!"

The whole group of us set off together.

"Good morning!" Ms. Darbus greeted us, "I have two announcements! One, our musical productions opening night, is this Friday at 6:30! Second, the basketball final is also this Friday at 2:30!"

I was surprised that Ms. Darbus had said this so I looked up quickly.

I would've sworn I saw her wink at me.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"What are you doing during Free Period?" Gabriella asked me.

"Oh, I gotta go to basketball today," I answered wrapping my arm around her.

"Ok! I have Decathlon after school until 6:00."

"I have basketball until 6:00."  
"Well, how about we walk home together!" Gabriella suggested.

"That, my friend, would be a great idea!" I laughed and kissed Gabriella before heading off in the other direction with Chad.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Grace's POV**

"Grace!" I turned around in my seat to see Dominique staring at me.

"What?" I mouthed.

Next thing I knew a piece of paper was flying at me. I caught it and spread it out on my desk.

_I have something to tell you._

**Ok**, I scribbled back.

_I'm really sorry; Grace but I heard something about Ben._

**What is it?**

_Well, in homeroom some girl was saying she saw him with that Brittney girl._

I stayed calm on the outside, but my heart was cracking in two. Why would he do that? I tried to reason with myself. Maybe it's not true. I can't believe it for sure. I'll just have to wait and see.

As the bell rang I walked out of the class with Dom. Ben was in the class across the hall.

He usually walked out with Tyler, but Tyler and Kelly came out first.

"Hey, Grace," Joe said from behind me.

"Hey," I mumbled without looking. My eyes were glued on the scene in front of me.

Ben was walking out of the room laughing with Brittney. Usually, I wouldn't have cared, but I couldn't help but to think of the note crumpled in my hand. I tossed it in the garbage can and walked away with Dominique and Joe.

**Author's Note**

**I hope you liked it! Oh no! What's up with Ben?!? Please tell me what you think!!! I'll post as soon as I can, but I'm going away for the weekend. PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 The Return **

**Gabriella's POV**

"Gabriella, is that right?" Taylor asked.

"Yes, that's correct," I replied giving another girl my approval.

We were at a Decathlon practice and we all checked each other's answers.

I glanced down at my watch. It was 6:00. Time to meet Troy so we can walk home together.

"Alright everyone," Taylor said, "That's all for now. Try to come during Free Period tomorrow!"

"Bye Tay!" I called walking out the door.

As I stepped out the front doors of the school and walked towards the benches where I was meeting Troy, I spotted a girl who mirrored my appearance almost exactly.

"Grace?" I said.

"What?" she replied rudely.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I wanted to talk to you," her attitude was gone suddenly.

"Ok," I replied sitting down and motioning her to sit next to me. I was confused and a little worried.

"What would you do if you wanted to...be with someone, but you couldn't?"

My sister was staring at her shoes.

"Grace, there's never a time when you can't be with someone. If you have feelings for someone you can't help it. Don't let anyone hold you back."

"You don't understand. I CAN'T see this guy."

"Grace, even if he lived in China, you could still be with him. Why don't you tell me who this guy is?"

I really wanted to understand what she was talking about, but I didn't. I was getting more and more worried because this wasn't like Grace at all.

"I can't tell you," she looked up at me.

"Grace, please," I said.

She jumped up.

"Fine!" she shouted, "You want to know who it is? It's Ben! Ben Bolton! We were dating just fine until you decided to ruin it!"  
She turned and ran as fast as she could down the sidewalk.

I sat there taking in what she had said. I then pulled out my cell phone and quickly sent Troy a text message.

_Grace just freaked out. I have to run after her. Don't worry. Did you know about her and Ben?_

I ran after her and found her easily. I stopped, however, on the opposite side of the street. She was standing a few feet away from Ben and tears were pouring down her face.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Grace's POV

I started running down the sidewalk away from my sister. It was dusk, but I could still see. What were blinding me were the tears streaming out of my eyes. I ran across the road and stopped only when I ran into someone.

"Grace?"  
I wiped my eyes.

"Ben?"

"Grace! What's wrong!?!"

"Us. We're what's wrong. We both know are siblings are dating. Don't pretend like you don't know!" I shouted louder than I had planned.

"It's ok Grace, we can still keep our relationship," Ben said.

"No," I replied, "Gabriella deserves having the boyfriend she's always dreamed of. And it will be just weird for us to be dating and Troy and her dating also."

"You also deserve a boyfriend you always dreamed of," Ben told me.

"I can't have a awkward relationship with my sister," I said.

"Grace, what about you?"

"It's not about me! I knew Gabriella had a crush on Troy, but I went out with you anyway. You didn't see the look on Gabriella's face when I told her we were dating. And, I know Gabriella. She'll break up with Troy for me. She's done a lot for _me_ in the past. Now it's my turn to do something for her!"

"Why do you care? Let her break up with Troy, then we can be together," Ben suggested.

"What!?!" I was shouting again, "How could you be alright with that? Gabriella and Troy have been so happy these last few days! How could you be so insensitive!?! Maybe your new friend Britney would be alright with that, but I'm not!"

I turned to run again, but I only took two steps before, yet again, I collided with someone. This object, however, was a lot bigger and wearing all black. I fell to the ground, so when I looked up the figure looked even taller. The man was wearing a ski mask, but there was no mistaking those hungry looking, bright, green eyes.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed and jerked as he firmly grabbed my arm.

I flailed and screamed as loud as I could. I saw Gabriella running towards me from out of nowhere.

"Oh, perfect," the man grumbled as he spotted Gabriella.

"Let her go!" Gabriella shrieked attempting to slap the man.

His arm extended and his fist made contact with my sister's head. She fell to the ground, motionless.

"Nooo-!" the end half of my scream was muffled due to a piece of cloth that was being stuffed in my mouth. A blind fold covered my eyes.

I heard Ben mumbling what would have been screams. He must have been gagged too. There were tears and sweat mingling on my face. I could smell an awful odor and I knew it was coming from the evil man. All my nightmares had become reality. I could see nothing.

The fear inside of me was so real. It was taking over my body inch by inch. I was lifted off the ground. When I was set down it was roughly and on a hard surface. I heard a small "oof" meaning Ben had been dropped in too. As the man threw in Gabriella I heard a sickening crunch that made me twinge.

When we started to move I came to the conclusion that we were in a car. Most likely the back of a pick-up truck. We drove...and drove...and drove.

Further and further away from home. From my mom. From my friends. From safety.

**Author's Note**

**He's finally back. Not that that's a good thing. So, what did you think? Please review! How in the world are they gonna get out of this? Keep reading to find out if they even do! **(Sorry about the whole relationship confusion, I know its kinda odd)

**Now click on that little purplish gray button and tell me what you think of this story. I really want to know what you readers think!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 You Can't Run**

**Troy's POV**

"See ya man!" I called to Chad.

I was about to leave the gym when I got a text message from Gabriella.

_Grace just freaked out. I have to run after her. Don't worry. Did you know about her and Ben?_

I rushed to the front of school and stared both ways down the sidewalk. I saw an old pick-up truck turn a corner at the end of the street.

"Gabriella!" I shouted, "Gabriella! Grace! Ben!" I could just tell something was wrong.

Chad came running out of the school followed by Taylor.

"What's wrong Troy!?!" Chad asked.

"We heard you screaming," Taylor added.

"I don't know," I mumbled, then explained the text I got.

"Text her back," Chad suggested.

I pulled out my phone and started walking down the sidewalk towards the Montez house.

_Where are you? What happened? Are you ok?_

"Troy why are you so worried?" Taylor asked.

"I just want to know where she is," I replied.

But, in the back of my mind I couldn't help but to remember the conversation I had with Grace about the man that was after her.

"Hi Mrs. Montez," I said as she answered the door, "Are your daughters here?"

"No, I thought Gabriella was going to be with you."

I was about to explain when my cell phone rang.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hey Troy, this is Zac. Do you know where Ben is? He said he was going back to the school to get Grace, but he never came back. That was like 15 minutes ago."

"No," I replied, "But you said he was with Grace?"

"Yeah."

"I gotta go!" I hung up my phone.

I explained what happened with Gabriella to Mrs. Montez, hoping someone would be worried.

"I don't think there's anything to be worried about Troy. I'm sure Grace and Gabriella are just taking a long walk home."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

I was sitting in my living room that night at 9:30. There had been no word from anyone.

'Why didn't she answer my text?' I wondered, 'Something's not right here.'

Then I thought maybe her phone died. She would've called me from her house phone!

I was pulled out of my thoughts by my own phone ringing.

"Hello," I answered.

"Troy, is Gabriella with you?"

It was Sharpay.

"No why?" I asked.

"She was supposed to meet me at my house an hour ago and she isn't answering her phone."

"Shar, something isn't right. Meet me at Gabriella's house."

I hung up and started making more phone calls. I was on my way to Gabriella's and I contacted Ben's, Grace's, and my own friends.

Fear would start to creep up through my body and I would tense trying to push it away. I couldn't decide if I should call my parents while they were on their curise or not.

Twenty minutes later Dom and Kelly arrived, they were the last ones to come.

"Everyone!" I shouted, "We have to look for them! We'll split up and meet back here in 30 minutes!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

"Soarin! Flyin!"

That's all I could hear. I could see nothing. But Troy's voice filled my head. I opened my eyes expecting to see him standing in front of me, smiling.

Black. That's all I saw. Nothingness.

My head spun and I felt it throbbing. I looked around slowly. I could see two figures on either side of me. That's when it all hit me. The fight. The text. Grace and Ben. The truck. And _him_.

I could still hear Troy singing though. Where was that coming from?

"Gabriella?" a weak voice whispered.

"Grace! Are you ok?"

I stared at her, and even through the darkness I could tell she was sporting a fat lip.

"I'm ok. Who's texting you?" she asked.

"What are you-?"

Oh! Duh! Troy was texting me! It was phone ringing!

I reached down, amazed that my hands weren't tied. I was about to reply to Troy explaining everything when I heard someone descending the steps somewhere to the right of me. Thinking fast I took the battery out of my phone and shoved it in my pocket.

Along with the figure coming down the stairs came a dim light.

"Hello!" the rough voice said, "What's that in your hand?"

"Nothing!" I spat.

"Is that a phone?"

He came at me and swiped my cell phone out of my hand.

"Who have you been in contact with? Tell me!"

"No one!"

The man opened my phone to check the outbox. He growled.

"Give me the battery!" he demanded.

I reached out my hand. He was about to seize my battery when I whipped it at the other wall. I heard a loud crack, and knew my plan had worked. However, when I had thrown it my arm hurt terribly. Is it broken?

The man growled again and slapped me.

I shrieked.

"Who are you!?!" Ben shouted.

"I guess it can't hurt to show my face," the man pulled off his mask and my jaw dropped.

"You!?!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

"Anything?" I asked as each group came back to the house.

"Sorry," Kelsi mumbled.

That was it. All the groups had gone and searched, and come back with nothing.

"Troy, tell us what happened," someone demanded.

I didn't care who it was. That wasn't important. But, none the less I explained the story again. I even threw in the part about the pick-up truck. I looked up when I was finished. Everyone was either on the verge of tears, or was crying.

Mrs. Montez was dabbing her eyes viciously.

"Troy?" a timid voice spoke, "What does this mean?'

"It means," I took a deep breath, "That Grace, Ben, and Gabriella are missing."

I felt tears fill my eyes and I couldn't take it anymore. I hurried out of the house without another word.

The wind that met my face felt amazing after being in the stuffy living room. Tears were silently running down my face, and an enormous lump was constricting my breathing. I ran. I ran as fast as I could down the street. I wasn't running to a place, just away. Deep down I knew this was stupid. All it was going to get me was sore legs. Because even though I didn't want to admit it, I knew; you can't run from your fears.

**Author's Note**

**Please let me know if you liked it!! I really appreciate those who have reviewed! They mean so much to me!! Thanks! Oh yeah, I know it real life the Bolton parents would have been contacted and would be on their way home from their cruise ASAP, but I didn't feel like throwing them in there! haha**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 Blue Book Bag**

**Grace's POV**

The man that had been haunting my dreams for weeks, whipped off his mask to finally reveal his identity.

"You!?!" my sister exclaimed sounding shocked.

This confused me. I personally had no idea who the man was.

"Don't tell me you recognize me!" the man sounded amused, "After all these years?"

"How could I forget your awful face!?!" my sister spat at the man, "Believe me! I tried!"

I had never seen my sister act like this before.

"You've very brave to speak that way about your own father!"

I instantly went light headed. I couldn't focus on anything. This didn't make any sense! My father is dead! I never met him! He died when I was a baby!

I tried to say something. To tell the man he was wrong, but my tongue was to dry for me to speak.

"Now!" shouted the man becoming vicious again, "I have a few house rules! You'll do what I say when I say to do it! Understand?"

"Why would we do something as stupid as that?" Ben asked.

My heart dropped as the madman pulled a gun out of his pocket. He let our eyes linger on it before shoving it out of sight.

"I won't listen!" Gabriella shouted, "I WON'T!"

SMACK

The madman slapped my sister again. Without a word he tied our hands behind our backs and to a poll with rough itchy rope.

"That'll do for now," the madman turned and walked up the steps plunging the room back into darkness.

"Gabriella," I whispered, "Explain yourself! That man is _not_ our dad!"

She didn't answer. I heard her breathe heavily. I knew she, like me, was crying.

"Gabriella," I repeated, "He's not our dad."

"No," my sister replied her voice shaking, "He's only mine."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

Empty. That's the only way to describe how I feel. My brother, girlfriend, and her sister had all disappeared, and there was nothing I could do. I lay in bed knowing I had no hope of sleeping. I couldn't free my mind of dark images. I hadn't told anyone about the man that had chased Grace. I couldn't satisfy myself with my own decision. I wasn't sure if I should've told at least Mrs. Montez, or not. I finally came to the conclusion not to. I had promised Grace I wouldn't. A promise is a promise.

I rolled over in my bed yet again and noticed a wet spot on my pillow. Only then did I realize I had been crying.

Gabriella's smiling face swam into view in my mind. I smiled in spite of myself just thinking about her.

"I love you, Gabriella," I whispered shakily to my empty house.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"We're just going to walk around the sidewalk outside of school," Kelsi was telling me.

She, Chad, and Taylor had come to my house at 10:30 in the morning asking me to accompany them.

"You mean you're going to look for clues?" I questioned.

"Yeah," Taylor replied,

"Ok, let's go," I agreed.

Truthfully, I didn't think this would help us find the victims. But I was desperate.

When we were standing outside East High we decided to split.

"Kelsi, Troy you go right. Chad and I will go left," Taylor demanded.

We were walking back and forth on the sidewalk looking for any sign of a struggle. We were there for an hour, but I wouldn't give up.

"Did you try the other side of the street!?!" I called to Taylor.

She immediately crossed the street in reply. We looked in the bushes and in the trees for nearly ten more minutes. I had begun to sweat long ago and was now almost completely drenched from the early afternoon sun.

"Troy!" Taylor called right as I wiped my face, "Come here!"

I ran to her side quickly.

"What?"

In response she held up a blue book bag that was clearly filled with books.

"It's Ben's," I mumbled taking it in my hands, "This must be where they were taken."

"They could've gone anywhere," Chad pointed out.

"Troy!" Kelsi exclaimed, "The pick-up truck!"  
"What?" I asked again.

"You saw that pick-up truck! Which way did it go!?!"

"You think...you think that was them?" I asked.

"Think about it," Kelsi demanded, "You said you saw the truck around five minutes after you got Gabi's text, they were gone, and you saw the truck!"

I thought hard on this. It did make sense. But that didn't help much. So what? They knew the kidnapper went left. They could've gone anywhere after that. But, on the other hand it was all they had.

"I'm going to get my car. You guys go home."

"No," Chad stated, "I'm coming."  
"Troy, you need Kelsi's and my brains," Taylor said.

"Fine!" I gave in, "But hurry!"

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

"Which way was it turning?" Taylor demanded.

I racked my brains trying to remember. I hadn't had a good view of the driver which means I had seen the passenger's window. I flipped on my right turn signal and turned.

"What now?" I asked harsher than I meant to.

"We could just drive," Chad suggested lamely.

"Just drive and hope we see a big sign that says 'Gabriella, Ben, and Grace are hostages here!'?" I spat.

Anger was rising inside of me. Why had they raised my hopes? One wrong turn and the whole mission was pointless.

'I have to find them,' I thought, 'I'm going to find them!'

"Maybe someone on the street saw the truck," Taylor suggested nervously.

"Maybe we should ask some people," Chad tried to redeem himself.

"Ok," I took a deep breath, "Which house first?"

**Author's Note**

**They're making a plan! But it seems kind of weak if you ask me! haha. Do you like it? Please, please let me know! I'm begging for reviews now! haha I just want to know if you even want me to keep posting or not. So, if you do please review. If you don't care if I keep posting, don't review and I'll get the hint! haha Thanks so much! Oh yeah, by the way. Does anyone read my author's notes?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 Hot On the Trail**

**Grace's POV  
**

"That's...that's not funny," I muttered.

"Grace, I'm sorry," I could tell Gabriella was crying really hard.

"Gabriella, what are you talking about?"

"Grace, we're half-sisters."

Her words rang through the large, almost empty, room. They echoed in my ears, and pierced the silence like a knife. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. The truth sank through me. The power of those three words was outrageous. The whole world seemed to disappear, it was just me. All alone. The one person I could always count on, my sister, wasn't there. She's not even my sister. I'm stranded.

"Why? Why wouldn't you tell me?" I managed to choke out.

"Grace, please listen," Gabriella pleaded.

"No!" I shouted, "What is there to listen to? We're not sisters!"

"Yes we are, we just have different dads," Gabriella cried.

"Stop it!" I demanded, "I don't care! Don't talk to me!"

I didn't want to hear what Gabriella had to say. None of it mattered.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Ben's POV**

"Grace, we're half sisters," Gabriella was saying.

At that moment I wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor and leave the Montez's alone. I felt like I was intruding as Gabriella tried to reason with Grace. I felt disgusting to be present during such a personal conversation, and I hated myself for it.

"Stop it!" my girlfriend(?) demanded of her sister(?)

Or was she my girlfriend? Did she break up with me? What I said about Gabriella was so wrong! I'm as selfish as Troy once told me I was. What did Grace mean my new friend Britney? Britney and I have been friends since we could talk! Our mom's our best friends!

"Grace!" Gabriella shouted, "Don't talk to me like that! You're not the only one mad here! I have reason to be mad too!"

"Sure you do!" Grace spat rudely.

"I do!" Gabriella screamed, "You knew I liked Troy! You were gonna let me break up with him so you could be with Ben, because you know I would not want you to be uncomfortable! Well, that's not gonna happen! I will not be a pushover anymore! I love Troy!"

I felt a huge pang of guilt.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

"Let's try the one at the end of the street," Kelsi suggested, "If one of these houses saw the truck they probably saw which way it turned."

I drove to a small house at the very end of the street. I knew it was dangerous to go up to random people's doors and knock, but what choice did I have?

I walked up a badly kept sidewalk and onto a rickety porch. I cracked my knuckles on a pale yellow door.

"Hello?"

An old lady with a robe on answered the door. Her glasses were perched on her nose and her would be long hair was pulled into a tight bun.

"Excuse me," I said, "May I ask you something?"

The lady looked me up and down and said, "Hey there sugar. Would you like to come in?"  
She winked clearly trying to be seductive. I threw up a little in my throat.

"No thanks. I was just wondering if you saw an old pick-up truck drive by here last night."

"Honey! These eyes don't see much anymore! Anyway, last night I was-"

"Sorry to bother you," I cut her off, but I didn't have time to hear what weird old ladies were doing last night.

I walked past the car on my way to the house across the street. I could hear Chad laughing hysterically and saying, "She was checking you out!"

I ignored him.

I approached a house in even worse condition than the psycho ladies. A broad, bald man that had tattoos and, piercings, and a leather jacket opened the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you-"

"Get off my property punk!"

I ran.

I could see and extremely well groomed house a few doors down. I approached it praying that someone normal lived here.

"Hello," a man in his 40's wearing a sweater and glasses answered the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you," I said, "I was just wondering if you noticed a blue, old, pick-up truck drive by around 6:30 last evening."

"I don't know about a truck," the man replied politely, "but my wife mentioned seeing a man drive by in a ski mask. That would be the only unusual thing we noticed."

"A black ski mask!" I exclaimed.

The man nodded.

"Can you tell me which way he went?"

The man called for his wife, and she pointed down to the next street over.

"Yes, it was really odd to see a car drive down there. No one goes down there. It's quite deserted."

"Thank you so much! I'm sorry I bothered you!"

"It's not problem," they both smiled.

If I ran quickly from the crazy man, it was nothing to how fast I sprinted to my car.

"They went down that street right there!" I told my friends pointing to an old road sign.

We turned down the street and I knew immediately why the couple had said it was odd. There were very few houses on this street, and not a single one looked occupied.

"What if he's in one of these?" Chad asked.

"He isn't," Taylor said, "I'd be able to tell if any of these houses were disturbed. They clearly haven't been touched in at least ten years."

I didn't have time to ask how she knew all this.

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Just keep driving," Kelsi suggested.

I pressed my foot down and we moved on. The road became more and more narrow. I drove on. After five minutes, there were no more houses, after thirty minutes we couldn't see the town anymore. To the left of us were woods and to the right, thicker woods. After an hour of driving the road became dirt. It was 1:15 in the afternoon, but according to how dark it was, it was the middle of the night.

No one spoke very much, until and hour and a half into the trip, the road ended.

I slammed on my breaks angrily.

"Now what!?!" I demanded.

I looked around at my friends; they all looked bewildered and shocked.

We all felt the same way, defeated...

**Author's Note**

**So this was a kind of eventful chapter, Grace and Gabriella both screamed, Ben wanted to disappear, and Troy got checked out my a weird old lady! I hope you like my story! I've said it before and I'll say it again, PLEASE REVIEW!! Thank you SO much to those who did review! I love you!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 Hopeless...Impossible **

**Gabriella's POV**

Anger boiled inside me as my sister accused me of not having a reason to be mad.

"I do! You knew I liked Troy! You were gonna let me break up with him so you could be with Ben, because you knew I would! Well, that's not gonna happen! I will not be a pushover anymore! I love Troy!"

I screamed all of this and watched my sisters face turn from fury to shame, and back again. I knew she was thinking about what I said, but all I could think of were my last three words.

'Where is Troy? Is he gonna come for us? Do I love him?'

"Girls, girls!" Carlos, the madman, was back, "What's all this screaming about?"  
I glared at him. Grace was silent. I decided she wasn't gonna talk anymore. Ben was glaring too.

"Not gonna answer? Aren't you feeling friendly?"

"Get away from us!" I demanded.

He leaned towards me so we were three inches apart. I knew he was gonna say something I didn't want to hear. I stared him into the eyes, and spit.

"Ugh!" he shouted backing away, "That's it! Tonight it happens!"

He ran back upstairs.

I flanked at Grace who was staring after Carlos. I could read her face perfectly. I could tell she was wondering why my dad, had kidnapped us.

I, of course, knew the answer only too well. I also had a feeling I knew what "it" meant. Every time I thought about "it" I felt sick. Sick with fear. Sick with so much fear I felt like throwing up.

"What did he mean?" Ben questioned.

I ignored him. Saying "it" out loud would be too much for me. I really would throw up.

"He's gonna kill us," Grace whispered.

"What?" Ben exclaimed.

"He's not gonna kill us," I muttered.

"Yes he is," Grace replied.

"No he isn't!"

"How do you know?" Grace asked.

"Someone will come for us," I told her thinking of Troy knowing he wouldn't let me down.

"Like who!" Grace spat, "No one has any idea where we our!"

I chose to ignore this too. She was right, what if Troy couldn't find us? I know what, if Troy doesn't find us, we die.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV  
**

I looked all around. All I could see was forest. In front of me. To the left. to the right. And behind me a dirt, dead-end road that led us nowhere.

"Looks like we made a wrong turn," Chad said.

"No it doesn't," Kelsi said, "This is perfect."

"Oh yeah, this is just excellent!" I said sarcastically.

"Think about it!" Kelsi demanded, "If you were kidnapping someone you would want to go to a place where no one would find you. What would be better than a forest at the end of a dead-end road!?!"  
"He would expect everyone to turn around," Taylor agreed.

"Well," I said, "We've got a lot of land to cover. Let's start looking."

And so it began. The nearly hopeless, nearly impossible search for anything helpful in this huge forest. As time went on I went further and further away from the car. Dusk fell around us and encircled us like a blanket. However, it was a cold, unfriendly blanket, not comforting at all. I didn't stop searching. My stomach groaned, pleading for food. My mouth was dry. My white tee shirt was turning light from the dirt of the forest.

"Troy!" someone spoke for the first time in a few hours.

I looked up to see Kelsi, Taylor, and Chad all walking towards me. They all had small scratches on their faced from low hanging branches. Chad's hair was slowly deflating.

"Troy, we should go back to the car," Taylor said.

"No!" I shouted immediately, "I'm not giving up!"

"Dude, we're not giving up!" Chad said.

"Taylor brought a few bottles of water. We just need to rest," Kelsi explained.

The thought of water is what made me give in. The darkness took over more and more of the forest so by the time we reached the car it was black everywhere. I sat down in my car accepting some water. I looked at the clock; 9:00.

"Oh man," I left my sweat shirt outside!" Chad exclaimed.

He opened the door to retrieve it from a few feet away. I watched him bend down and pick it up. Then he froze, staring.

"Troy!" he shouted suddenly, "Come here!"

I jumped out of my car and looked in the direction of Chad's finger. A faint glowing was in the distance. It looked like a light from a house.

Hope filled my body trying to destroy my fear.

"Kelsi, Taylor you two stay here! Turn the car around and keep it on!" I demanded, "Be ready to drive away. If I have to send Gabriella, Grace, Ben, and Chad out alone, I will. As soon as they all get here, leave!"

"But Troy!" they all tried to argue.

"No buts! You will listen to me! Let's go Chad!"

We started running towards the light. The becon of hope. It wasn't, however, getting any closer. We ran for near five minutes before a small shape of a house came into view.

"This is it," I whispered.

Chad nodded.

I led the way towards the door. I peered through a whole in the rotten wood door. I was looking in on a room that would be a kitchen. There was nothing in it but a few chairs, a sink, and a man. He was wearing all black; however his ski mask was lying abandoned on the floor. I was waiting for him to leave the room. After a minute of him fumbling with something I couldn't see, I was soaked in a cold nervous sweat. He finally turned and started descending cement steps. I pushed open the door and Chad followed. We were moving gruelingly slow as to make no sound. I could hear the man talking downstairs and hoped it was his hostages, not back up.

**Author's Note**

**Hey there! Are you in suspense yet! haha. So, if you're still reading this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know!!!! By the way, to all of those who read Tyler Montez, I'm thinking about thinking up a sequel! So if you want me to, review! ;-)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 Will "It" Happen**

**Gabriella's POV**

I could hear loud fumbling upstairs. After a few minutes Carlos came down the steps to face us.

"Well," he said, "I'm gonna get this over with before anything else goes wrong."

"Get what over with?" Ben asked clearly trying to delay.

Carlos laughed, more like cackled.

He pulled a gun out of his back pocket. It was a pistol, but it would do the job. Disgust battled with fear inside of me as they tried to decide which was feeling greater.

"Well Montez," he was talking to Grace, "You were the whole point of this journey, so you can go first."

"Noooooo!" I screamed.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

Chad and I stood there listening. We were waiting for any hint as to what was going on. We stood silently for one minute.  
"Noooooo!" my girlfriend's voice pierced the night.

Without thinking, without caring, I sprinted down the steps and jumped down half of them.

I felt sick because of the scene in front of me.

Ben, Gabriella, and Grace were tied up and a big man had a gun pointed at them.

"What the-!" he shouted.

I threw myself at him instinctively. I caught him by surprise; therefore, he wasn't holding the gun tightly. It skidded across the floor.

I flailed my arms wildly. I could feel my fists making contact with his face. One of his large arms swung around and hit my head. Dizziness took over me. I saw a blur of brown, which was Chad's hair. He took over beating up the man.

I ran across to the hostages and started working on the knots. The man caught sight of me and tore at me. His body slammed me as I flew away from Ben. I jumped back up and my fists pounded his stomach. His foot slammed into my side. I fell to the ground. He kicked me again. I couldn't do anything as the mans foot crushed my nose. All I could taste and smell was blood. I could see nothing as I hurriedly whipped my face.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

Troy came down the steps out of nowhere. I stared at him in amazement. He had come for me. I heard someone else upstairs and tensed. As Troy hit the ground Chad jumped from the steps and flung himself at Carlos. I watched them fighting, horrified. Troy was almost done with Ben's knots when Carlos body slammed him. Chad finished the job. Ben was free. I heard a crunch and saw blood squirt from Troy's nose, blinding him.

"Go!" Chad whispered in my ear.

Carlos was about to hit Troy again, and Troy couldn't see it coming. I launched myself at him. I saw Grace scurrying across the floor opening her phone.

Pain seared through my face as Carlos slapped me yet again. Chad and Troy took over the battle with Carlos. They were all covered in blood.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

I didn't know what was going on. I heard Gabriella grunt and knew she had been freed. I cleared my eyes so I could see the horrific room. The first thing I saw was the man slap Gabriella. Chad and I jumped at the same time.

POW!

I froze. There was no mistaking, that was a gun shot. The room was filled with smoke. I glanced around fear roaring inside me like a hungry lion.

I looked at everyone present.

Chad, no gun wound.

Gabriella, no gun wound.

Grace, no gun wound.

Ben, no gun wound, but he had a gun.

I followed where the gun was pointed. The man I was leaning over top of was lying in a pool of blood. Ben had shot him.

The look on everyone's faces was the same. Shock.

Police sirens filled the silence.

"How'd they...?" Chad started to ask.

"I called them," Grace informed us.

She's smart like Gabriella, I thought.

We all remained silent as three policemen rushed down the steps. Their eyes swept the room.

The policemen in front stared only at the man.

"Fella's, we've found the escaped convict Carlos Montez."

Montez? Montez? Gabriella's dad?

"His name is Sanchez," Gabriella stated.

The gun was lying next to him, Ben had dropped it.

"He's not dead," another policeman said.

"Let's get him in the ambulance," the last agreed.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV  
**

"He's not dead," one policeman said.

"Let's get him to the ambulance," the paramedic suggested.

They did just that and the whole time, we were silent.

"We're going to need to get you kids home," the officer told us.

"We drove here. We can handle it," Troy said bravely.

"That man has been on the loose. You caught him. You've been through a lot. Get going," he ordered.

"Sir," I said, "You just want us to leave? You're not questioning us or anything?"  
"I know the story of Carlos Sanchez and I'm assuming you're one of his daughters. Go."

Troy grabbed my hand and started leaving. When we all got outside and to the car, we finally spoke.

"Gabs, Ben, Grace," Troy said, "We were so worried!"

He spoke a bit funny due to his broken nose.

Taylor and Kelsi jumped out of Troy's car. Everyone was exchanging hugs.

We piled into the car to get a better look at each other. All of us were bruised and scratched. I looked at Troy and Chad finally taking in their appearance.

Troy's nose was crooked and there was still blood covering his face. His shirt was stained red and his hair was matted from a mix of sweat and blood.

Chad had a red streak through his hair, indicating a cracked head.

They were both bleeding, cut, and bruised badly.

"You two need medical attention. Even if the police won't take us to the hospital, you must go. There was something up. He definitely should've questioned us and taken us to the hospital," I said.

I was in the drivers seat so without another word, I pulled away.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Taylor was tending to Chad. Kelsi was tending to me. Ben and Grace were both sitting silently. Silent tears were still coming down Grace's face. Gabriella was driving. Where? I think the hospital.

My nose was throbbing and I couldn't focus on anything.

"Shouldn't you call home?" Chad mumbled.

"I already did," Gabriella's voice soothed my pain, "I called all of our homes."

Was I asleep for that? I wondered but didn't ask.

Gabriella made one more turn and we were at the hospital.

We all piled out of the car and Taylor and Kelsi led the way.

"Gabs," I whispered before she went through the door.

I pulled her aside.

"Troy, I'm sorry."

"I was so worried. Sorry? Don't be sorry! I'm just so glad you're ok."

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

"Gabs," Troy said stopping me from entering the hospital.

"Troy, I'm sorry."

I was so sorry. Troy was in this condition because of me. He had risked his life for me. Almost died for me.

"I was so worried," Troy said, "Sorry? Don't be sorry I'm just so glad you're ok."

He wrapped his strong arms around me. Even though he had been weakened from the fight I still felt indescribably safe in his arms. He kissed my head and we stood there hugging, both of us loving the moment.

"Troy, ya need a doctor."

**Author's Note**

**So they're safe! But are they healthy! Who seriously saw Ben shooting the man!?! haha!! What do you think so far? Specifically what did you think of the whole kidnap section? How they were kidnapped, what happened when they were kidnapped, how Troy found them, and how Troy and Chad saved them? Please review!! ;-)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 The Aftermath **

**Ben's POV**

I woke the next morning in a small hospital bed. There were a few bandages on my face and arms. The picture of the man flashed in my eyes. I felt sick. I had shot someone. I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts so I looked around. Troy was lying in a bed next to me.

"Troy!" I said.

"Hey, man."

He had more bandages than me. His nose was heavily wrapped and he had bruises up and sown his arms. Only one of his eyes had suffered being blackened. He looked bad.

"Troy, what happened?" I asked.

"Well, you see this guy, he kidnapped you!" Troy said throwing his arms in the air. "And I saved you!"

Troy could always joke around.

"C'mon," I demanded, "Is everyone ok?"

"Yup!" Troy replied, "Gabriella gave me the scoop this morning. She and Grace were both bandaged and are fine. But, Gabriella did sprain her wrist. It's not a big deal from what the doctor said. Chad's in the same condition I am. Except, he broke a toe, I broke a finger!"

I couldn't help but to laugh.

"And...what about, the man?"

I couldn't look at Troy.

"Ben," Troy said, "its ok. He would've killed all of us. It was self defense. It won't even hurt your criminal record! He didn't die. They kept him alive then sent him to a higher security jail."

My stomach squirmed.

"You and I need to talk about something else man," Troy told me, "What's going on with you and Grace?"  
My heart sank. He knew. Does Gabriella know?

"I'm sorry man," I said, "You and Gabriella weren't going out at the time. I said things to Grace, things about her and I staying together and you guys breaking up. I don't think she'd forgive me anyway."

"Ben, I can't keep you from Grace. If you have feelings for her I can't stop them."

I didn't say anything.

"Are you questioning you're feeling?" Troy asked smartly.

I guess he really knows a lot about girls.

"I guess," I replied.

For some reason I _was_ questioning how I felt about Grace.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmh

**Grace's POV**

"Hey Grace," Gabriella walked into my hospital room.

"Hi," I replied shortly.

"We're leaving soon. Taylor and Kelsi already did. Their parents wanted them home."

"So everyone's ok except madman?" I asked.

"Yeah. Carlos lived though. They sent him to a higher security prison," she explained.

I got angry suddenly.

"Carlos?" I said rudely.

"Grace, please."

"Please what?" I demanded.

She didn't answer. After a minute she spoke again.

"We need to talk about Troy, Ben, you and I," she said changing the subject.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Grace, talk to me!"

"There's nothing to talk about. I'm gonna break up with Ben anyway," I told her.

"Grace, you don't have to do this," Gabriella said.

"Gabriella," I told her, "Even if you and Troy break up, I'm breaking up with Ben."

Gabriella didn't press the matter. She changed the subject back to the madman.

"Grace, you can't be mad at me for what I told you about Carlos," she said.

"Can't I? Why not? I have every right to be mad!" I shouted too loudly for a hospital.

"Listen to me!" Gabriella shouted back, "Listen to the whole story! You don't know the half of it!"

I looked away from her. Gabriella never screams at me.

"I was going to spare you the horrific details, but I guess I'll have to tell you! Carlos and mom were together. They had me and they weren't married. When I was one year old, Carlos left mom. She was left alone with a baby girl to rise. Then she met your dad, James. They got married after only knowing each other for a year. Then, when I was three, mom was pregnant with you. One day James and I were home alone. There was a knock at the door. This man I didn't know came in. He marched right into our living room and shot James without hesitation. I saw it happen. I watched the bullet hit James. Watched him fall and soak in his own blood. Carlos didn't even notice I was there. He marched right back out. I was three years old! He wasn't gone though; only half of his plan was complete. When I was seven he came back. He somehow found us, even though we had moved! He was unlucky though. You were sick in the hospital. And you were extremely lucky to be in one place he couldn't get to you. And now, he came back to finally kill you! Now do you understand why mom and I didn't want to talk about it!?! Do you understand why we figured you didn't need to know!?! We didn't want that story to haunt you like it haunts us! And, hey, look on the bright side. At least you weren't a mistake. At least mom planned to have you!"  
Gabriella had tears falling down her face. I felt tears choking me. I felt small and ashamed. I was upset with myself for doing this to Gabriella.

"Gabriella," I said quietly looking into my lap, "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok Grace, just don't do it again!"

I looked up. She was smiling at me through her tears. I smiled too.

"We have the same mom," I stated, "If that doesn't make us sisters, what can?" I asked.

My sister leaned down and hugged me.

"I'm sorry too," she whispered.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

I leaned down and hugged my sister. I had been afraid she would never call me sister again.

"I'm sorry too," I told her truthfully.

Then I pulled away.

"I'm glad you're with Troy," Grace told me.

I smiled.

I'll come back in a few minutes when it's time to go," I told her.

I left the room and headed back towards Troy's.

"Troy," I said sitting next to him, "Can I tell you something?"  
I don't know why, but it felt like the right thing to do, to tell Troy.

"Sure, Gabs, anything," he smiled at me, wincing in pain as he did so.

"Well, I just told Grace about the man and thought you should know the truth about him too."  
I started explaining memories I hated again. This time, however, I was calmer.

When I finished I stared into my lap breathing deeply.

"Gabs, look at me," his delicate fingers lifted my chin.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

I nodded untruthfully trying to hide my tears.

"No your not," he said getting out of his bed. I knew it hurt him to move that much, but he still was.

"Come here," he wrapped his arms around me, "Don't worry about it. It's all over. You have finally seen the last of that madman. There is no way he is escaping from that prison. You never have to think of him again. I'm right here. I know he scarred you, but some scars can heal. And that's what I'm here for, to heal your scars. Just call me Mepiform!"

**(A/N: That is a kind of scar removal! haha. If you thought it was a bad joke, back off! Just kidding! haha!)**

I looked at Troy laughing.

"Only you would've gotten that joke!" he laughed too.

"Thanks, baby," I said, "I already feel better."

"That's what I'm here for, baby," Troy smiled, "I love you."

This took me by surprise. I stared into his eyes.

"I love you too," I replied meaning every word.

I had admitted to Grace that I loved Troy, but actually saying to Troy, and him hearing him say it to me, felt so much better.

We stood there holding each other tightly. The silence was only broken by Ben's soft snores.

**Author's Note**

**I bet Ben's glad he was asleep for that!! Anyway, once again what did you think? Did you like the way I explained everything with Carlos? Did you like the whole Carlos story? I hope so!!! Please review!! There are only a couple chapters left! Love ya!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 17 UNO!**

**Troy's POV**

When I woke up the next morning it was comfortably in my own bed. Two good things had come out of this whole thing. One, the madman had been caught. Two, Gabriella, Ben, Grace, Taylor, Kelsi, and I got a day off from school. We, of course, rubbed this in Zeke, Jason, Sharpay, and Ryan's faces. Right as I yawned hugely there was a knock at the back door.

"Ben! Get that!" I demanded.

"I'm in the bathroom!" he replied.

As a second knock sounded I jumped out of bed and ran down the steps. I swung open the door to reveal Gabriella smiling brightly at me. Grace was standing slightly behind her.

"Do you always open the door half naked?" my girlfriend teased.

I looked down at my bare chest and boxers.

"No," I replied, "Only for you."

Gabriella's jaw dropped in shock as I laughed.

"Go get dressed!" Gabriella demanded as I closed the door behind them.

"My wish is your command," I bowed deeply causing her to giggle.

I ran upstairs passing Ben on the way. When I came back to the living room the three of them were sitting in an awkward silence.

"Gabs," I smiled, "I have something for you."

She smiled back at me suspiciously and followed me out back. It was so early the sun was still rising beautifully behind the trees.

"What is it?" Gabriella asked.

"Greedy, greedy!" I replied laughing.

She smiled at me and my insides melted away.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Ben's POV**

I heard Gabriella at the door as I left the bathroom. I started walking down the stairs. Troy ran past me in his boxers. I rolled my eyes and walked into the living room. Grace was sitting next to Gabriella on the couch.

I started to sweat nervously, and my insides tightened. We were all sitting there awkwardly when Troy came down and took Gabriella.

Now it was even more awkward, if that was possible.

"Grace I-" I started.

"Let me."

I nodded.

"Ben, I'm sorry. I don't think we can be together. It's not about letting Gabriella break up with Troy. It's just; things will be awkward between us when we're together because we'll know our siblings are off making out somewhere. And when all four of us are together it is even more awkward. But, I still want to be best friends, ok?"

That wasn't as bad as I expected, and she was right.

"Great," I replied smiling truthfully. "I think we were both feeling the same way."

We both stood up and hugged.

"Now," Grace said, "I challenge you to a game of Uno!"

"Uno!" I shouted happily, "This means war!"

Uno was "our game" when we were best friends. And now it will be again.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV  
**

"Gabs," Troy smiled at me coming into the living room now wearing clothes, "I have something for you."

He took me out back to the court. It looked amazing, because the sun was still rising. That's why I had wanted to come over so early. The Bolton's have such a great view of the sunrise.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Greedy, greedy," Troy mocked sarcastically.

He smiled at me and I felt faint.

"Turn around," Troy demanded.

I obeyed.

I felt his gentle hands push my hair off my neck. He clasped a chain around it. I turned to face him taking the heart shaped locket in my hands. On the outside _Troy_ was carved. I opened to see a picture of Troy and I on one side and I love you carved on the other.

I looked at him in shock.

"Troy, this is beautiful."

"I've got one to match," he told me.

He pulled the locket out from his shirt. I hadn't even noticed the gold chain around his neck.

_Gabriella_ was carved on the outside of his.

I grabbed Troy around the neck and pressed our lips together passionately. Fireworks exploded in my stomach and an electric charge went through me. I could feel chills on Troy's arms as I grasped him firmly.

"Now," said Troy as we broke apart, "How about that traveling lesson?"

"You're on!" I exclaimed tucking my locket into my shirt. Troy did the same with his and started teaching me.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

After and hour Troy and I collapsed on the grass.

"Well," Troy said, "The day after tomorrow are the big game and the musical."

"Yep," I replied, "I'm so excited!"

"Me too," Troy replied, "I can't wait for another championship or to play Skye Masterson!"

"Another championship? Don't get too cocky!" I joked.

"Positive thinking is not cockiness," Troy reasoned, "Now how about a swim?"

"In what pool?" I questioned sitting up.

Troy had gotten up and was walking away.

"This one!" he shouted drenching me with water.

I screamed in surprise and looked for the source of water. Troy was doubled over laughing, the hose handing loosely in his hand. An entire water fight followed. Until Troy cheated by turning off the hose!

**Author's Note**

**There's just an everyone's happy chapter for you! I hope you like it!! This is one of your last chances to review, the story is almost over. If I'm going to do another story I will tell about it in my last Author's Note of this story. Love ya! Please review! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**Troy's POV**

It was two days later and 2:00. The whole team was in the gym. The other team, The Cavaliers, had just arrived.

"Alright team!" Coach Bolton shouted, "This is it! This is your chance for a back to back championship! Don't blow it!"

The whole team laughed.

"Locker room!" I shouted.

We all marched into the large room. We could hear hundreds of feet outside. A buzz of conversation was growing.

2:20.

"You ready for this?" my dad asked, "Are you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah dad," I replied, "I feel fine."

"Ok, well in that case, I want to see those moves we've been working on!"

"You got it coach!" I said.

2:30.

"East High Wildcats!"

The announcer screamed from the gym. We all ran onto the court cheering. Our screams were drowned out by the fans. The game was set up ready to start when I saw Gabriella in the stands. I winked as she smiled at me.

"Bolton!" it was Chad smiling at me, "Get cha head in the game!"

A shrill whistle sounded, the game began.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

The game had flown by. There was only five minutes left. We were down by four.

Sweat was pouring down my face. I was growing nervous.

"Troy!" Jason flung me the ball.

I dodged two Cavaliers and found myself a few feet from the net. Two opponents closed in on me. I managed to pass to Chad who did a perfect jump shot.

We were only down by two now. The Cavaliers were taking the ball the other way. Zeke caught up with them and stole the ball. Chad received the ball two feet from the net.

There was one minute left. If he scored, we tied. If we scored a three pointer, we won!

"Chad! Back!" I shouted running forward.

Luckily, Chad caught on and tossed me the ball.

I took a shot from close to the half line and it soared through the air and right into the net.

Screams.

That's all I could hear.

Red and white was all I could see as my teammates crashed in around me. As the last few seconds ticked down the clock Chad and I were thrust into the air.

"What team!?!" Chad was shouting.

My dad was running forward with the trophy just like last year.

Chad and I were set down and our girlfriends ran up behind us. Chad and Taylor were already making out.

"Great job Wildcat!" Gabriella called her locket bouncing around her neck.

I engulfed her in a hug.

"You better do that good tonight when you're performing with me," she told me smiling.

"Don't worry about a thing," I laughed, "I plan too!"  
"Cocky!" Gabriella sang,

We both laughed as I leaned down to capture her lips.

"Amazing!" Ben called.

I turned.

"Hey Ben!"

"You are so lucky!" Ben joked.

"Luck? No way!" I replied grabbing him around the neck and ruffling his hair.

"You there!" it was Darbus.

"Hey, Ms. Darbus."

"Congratulations!" she exclaimed, "I will expect to see you and Miss. Montez tonight at 5:30!"

"Of course!" I agreed.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV  
**

"Good luck honey!" my mom called as I walked out the door.

"Thanks!"

Troy was taking me to the show since we had to be there an hour early.

"We better run so we're not late," I said as Troy and I pulled into the school.

"Yeah, Ms. Darbus is probably having a heart attack and we're five minutes early," Troy replied.

We got out of his car and none the less, ran to the auditorium.

"There you are!" Ms. Darbus called, "Get backstage!"

We went backstage and had our hair and make-up done before we were shooed away to get dressed.

"Shar!" I called, she was already dressed as Adelaide.

"Hey Gabriella!" she squealed, "You need to get dressed!"

"I know that's where I'm headed!"

Sharpay and I hurried off

Fifteen minutes before the show started the whole cast was gathered around in a circle back stage.

Ms. Darbus was giving a speech.

"You have all worked very hard on this production. I'm very proud of all of you already. I know you'll do magnificently! Nicely, Benny, Rusty!" Ms. Darbus was once again using our character names, "You're up first! Let's do this!"

The three boys stepped onto the stage. The curtain split. The show began.

Ten minutes later Troy and I were on stage singing 'I'll Know When My Love Comes Along'.

"Yes, I'll know when my love comes along!" Troy sang staring at me. Maybe it was a bad idea for Troy and I to star together. He made it hard to concentrate.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

Thunderous applause sounded through the auditorium as the curtain closed. It opened again a second later for the curtain call. Everyone ran out onto stage in groups. Troy and I were last. We walked from opposite sides and met in the middle of the stage. Troy took my hand and led me to the front of the stage. I looked out at the huge crowd and everything was perfect.

Troy, wearing a black suit and matching hat was next to me. I could see distinct faces in the crowd. First I saw Grace and Ben sitting next to each other and clapping viciously. Broad smiled were plastered on the best friend's faces. My mom and the Bolton's were sitting next to them. Tears of joy glistened in both moms eyes. Chad, Zeke, Jason, Taylor, and Kelsi were behind them. They were all on their feet. The guys were shouted random indistinct things as the girls screamed and waved. I gave them a slight wave as Ms. Darbus came up to take her bow. She bent down extraordinarily close to the floor for an older woman. Her many purple and blue scarves flowed around as she stood and then took a second bow.

Troy wrapped his arm around my waist and held me tight. I couldn't get the goofy grin off my face. Once again the curtain started to close and even more applause broke loose.

"That was simply amazing!" Ms. Darbus shouted to the crew tears in her eyes, "Bravo! Brava! Encore!"

"Gabriella!" Sharpay ran up behind me closely followed by Ryan.

She was holding her wedding dress up from her feet in order not to trip.

"Sharpay! Great job!" I squealed as she gave me a bone crushing hug.

"Basketball and musical after party, my house!" Troy shouted.

"Troy I have to go find my mom," I said.

I ran to the hallway outside the auditorium where all the parents were.

"Great job, Gabriella!" I heard people calling as I rushed by.

I finally found my mom and Grace still talking to the Bolton's.

"Gabriella, sweetheart! I'm so proud of you!" my mom embraced me tightly.

Grace was next.

"How will I ever live up to you, Gabriella," she said, "You're the best sister I could've asked for. I'm sorry about..."

"Grace, let's forget about it!" I grabbed my little sister and hugged her.

"Excellent job, honey!" Mrs. Bolton cried.

I looked up to see Troy standing behind me. Grace immediately stepped away.

Everyone then hugged and congratulated Troy.

"I'll give you an average," Ben told Troy, though only Troy and I heard.

"An average! I'd like to see you get up there and do that! It's over for you Ben Bolton!"

Troy started chasing around his brother until Mrs. Bolton saw these events and put an end to them. Troy came back over smiling and stood by his mom as if being punished. I smiled back at him trying not to laugh out loud. When he winked at me a second longer I couldn't take it anymore. I crossed the circle of people in two steps and wrapped my arms around Troy.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Troy's POV**

After Gabriella hugged me out of nowhere I was ready to get going.

"Gabriella, you ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Where is the after party this year?" Mrs. Montez questioned.

"My house," my mom smiled.

"Good luck with that!" Mrs. Montez smiled also.

A half hour later the party was in full swing.

The music that filled the house could be heard all through it. However, today we head the DJ set up in the backyard. It was dark except for the flashing lights coming from the DJ. Everyone from the party, which was a couple hundred, was packed into my backyard. Somehow, no one was uncomfortable. I walked through the dance floor dodging person after person.

"Hey man!"

I looked up.

Chad was sitting in my tree with Taylor.

I just kept walking...

I made it to the table of food which was stuffed with every snack you could desire. There were pretzel, barbeque chips, normal chips, Pringles, a bowl of candy, donuts, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, Frito's, Doritos. I reached down to the coolers to grab a soda. There were countless cases of soda waiting to be set into the coolers once they were empty enough for more.

I walked away a full five minutes later carrying a napkin full of Doritos's, some candy, a donut, and a can of ice cold Mountain Dew.

"Hungry?" a sweet voice asked.

I turned around to see, of course, Gabriella smiling at me. She had on tight jeans and a white and light blue striped tank top. Her hair was down except for a matching light blue headband. I glanced at her feet, no shoes.

"What's it gonna take for a guy to be allowed to be hungry!?!" I questioned holding back my smile.

"Well," Gabriella answered playing with her hair, "There is one thing you haven't properly attended to yet..."

I couldn't help it a broad smile broke over my face. I handed to the donut to Jason who happened to be walking by. The chips were gone, so I chugged the remainder of my Mountain Dew.

"Lead the way," I said.

Gabriella grabbed my hand and weaved us to my back door. We passed through the house back outside onto my front porch. A full moon shined in the sky. There were light lining my sidewalk to the front door for late party comers. The sounds from the party on the other side of the house could be heard where we were. I could distinctly hear Sharpay singing through the microphone. The sound of cars driving on nearby roads filled my ears occasionally...but none of that mattered.

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhs

**Grace's POV  
**

The Bolton after party was just like the New Years party. People everywhere, music as loud as could be, and best of all my best friend and I were in the Bolton's balcony staying away from the crazy upper classmen.

"Finally, everything's back to normal," Ben said breaking the comfortable silence.

"Finally," I agreed.

"Grace, you're the best friend a guy could ask for."

I smiled at Ben.

"Thanks Ben, you're not so bad you're self."

I looked across the balcony as I heard the back door opened. Troy and Gabriella were rushing by holding hands.

I rolled my eyes but smiled none the less.

"Whoa!" Ben exclaimed.

I followed the point of his finger. Through a high window I could see the tree in the backyard. There was something in it. But what was it? It took me a minute to make out two different people closely embraced. Chad and Taylor. I glanced at Ben who was looking at them intently.

'Yep,' I thought, 'everything is back to normal.'

hsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsmhsm

**Gabriella's POV**

A full moon shined above our heads. A warm gentle breeze occasionally blew rumpling our hair. I could hear the distant sound of crickets. Occasionally a late night bird called.

...but none of that mattered.

Troy was standing as close as he could to me and we were looking at each other. He leaned towards me, but the kiss never came. I felt his lips meet my cheek. Then my neck. Then my ear. Teasing me, that's what he was doing.

I moaned involuntarily as he breathed lightly just barley in my ear. Chills instantly shout down every part of my body possible. I wasn't cold. Troy's warm breath on my delicate skin prevented that.

"I love you," he whispered his lips barely touching my face, but close enough to cause my breath to catch in my through and my eyes to close.

Troy knew he was teasing me, he knew I was gonna break down pretty soon, so he stopped. His face still inches from mine and looked at me.

"Don't stop," I managed to mumble through my ragged breathing.

A mischievous grin spread over Troy Bolton's face as he continued to plant kissed everywhere on my face except where I could kiss back.. He started a trail of small kissed all down my neck and didn't stop until he reached my shoulder. Then he jumped back up to breathe near my ear a little more.

"How do you do that to me?" I questioned.

I could feel him smile against my face but he did not answer.

I moved quickly not being able to stand it anymore and crashed my lips onto his. His arms were holding me closer than I thought possible and we were the only ones, only things in the world. We were spinning and spinning in circled but our feet were planted firmly on the ground. We pulled apart at the same time both needing air. Troy rested his head on my shoulder near my neck taking in deep breaths. I rubbed his hair with my hand breathing also.

"We should go back to the party," I suggested.

"No," Troy demanded.

"Troy, people are gonna realize we're gone."  
"So," he whined.

I leaned towards him but didn't let our lips meet. I barely brushed his lips for barely a second and walked away, back into the house. I heard Troy crashing through the house behind me.

We finally made it out side and Troy smacked me from behind because of what I did. I giggled before I heard Sharpay's demanding voice asking for attention.

"Ok," she said, "I need Ryan, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Zekey, Jason, Martha, and Kelsi up here now!"

We all obeyed without questions. When Taylor and Chad finally got to the stage Sharpay spoke again.

"We have a performance for you!!"

Kelsi sat at the piano and Jason stood behind her.

"Sharpay what are we-?" Troy spluttered.

"You'll know the song I promise!" she said.

Martha stood with Ryan; they looked like they knew what was happening.

Taylor and Chad were confused but didn't seem to care.

Sharpay stood with Zeke. She knew what was happening, he didn't.

Kelsi started playing and I smiled up at Troy instantly recognizing the song.

We're one of a kind like dip da dip da dip do whap de dobby do  
Our names are signed boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy shooby do wap shoo bop  
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop we'll always be like one  
Wa-wa-wa-one

When we go out a night (oh-h oh)  
And stars are shining bright (oh-h, oh)  
Up in the skies above  
Or at the high school dance  
Where you can find romance maybe it might be lo-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uve

Ramma lamma lamma ka dingity ding da dong  
Shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yippity boom da boom  
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop  
Dip da dip da dip do wop da dooby do  
Boogy boogy boogy boogy shooby sho wap sho wap  
Sha na na na na na na na yippity dip da do  
Ramma lamma lamma ka dingity ding da dong  
Shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yippity boom sha boom  
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop  
Yip da dip da dip shoo bopp sha dooby do  
Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy shooby do wap sho bop  
Sha na na na na na na na yippity dip da do  
A womp bop a looma a womp bam boom

We're for each other like womp bop a looma a womp bam boom  
Just like my brother is sha na na na na na na na yippity dip da do  
Chang chang changity chang shoo bop we'll always be together  
Waooo Yeah!

The song ended and everyone was cheering again. Ben and Grace were in the front of the crowd. My best friends and I all grabbed hands and bowed together. Forever more that moment would be what I though of when someone wanted to hear the definition of _Picture Perfect!_

**Author's Note**

**I really hope everyone like the end of Intercepting Love. I decided to end it with We Go Together since the real High School Musicals end with "We're All In This Together" and "All For One". Please review one last time!! In case no ones familiar with the play Guys and Dolls, that' the play that the high school in my school district did. I'm only in Junior High, but I saw the play. **

**LOOKOUT for a sequel to TYLER MONTEZ!! That's right!! I'm in the process of creating a sequel!! Please review to it when it starts!! haha. I don't want to disappoint anyone and the only way I'll know if I am is thorough the review.**

**THANK YOU much for reading this and sticking with me!! I love you!**

**I love you Shelby! Thanks for posting and all that junk you do!! **

**THANK YOU!!!**


End file.
